


Little Orphan Annie

by ETNMystic



Series: Unlucky Number 12 [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, escape the night - Fandom
Genre: But no rape, Cute, Gen, I don't think, Innocence, Surgery, again i don't write rape stuff, cinnamon roll protagonist, dark queen safiya, dark!saf, disco party, how can a single human being be that adorable?, i'm not exactly sure how that's possible though, it's so good that it's mesmerizing, like is she even real?, marathon of adorable, more tags to come, non-con for sure, rosanna becomes even more adorable, rosanna is a lil cinnamon roll, rosanna is too cute to die, should I put safiya/the carnival master as a relationship in this or not?, teala finally stands up for herself, there's quite a bit of hypnosis in this, we stan protective matpat, who wants a clownie sundae?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-07-16 04:47:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 28
Words: 24,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16078736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic
Summary: Part of the series "Unlucky Number 12."When the dice lands on twelve and Ro is selected to go free, she's taken by Sally as her own pet. The group must work to free her while working to cleanse the artifacts before sunrise.(Alternate story paths to the story "Lucky Number 12.")





	1. I Do Hope that Doggie's for Sale

 

 

 

“So I’ll ask you one more time, pup,” the leader hisses, leaning in close to her ear.  
"Are you for sale?”

Ro’s legs begin to tremble as the clown leader holds the blade back up to her throat. Closing her eyes, she’s ready to just give herself up to them.

“I——“ she begins.

“Oh forget it!” Sally exclaims as she throws down her bat. 

She rushes over to the carousel and snatches the blade out of the leader’s hands. Going behind Ro, she begins to cut through her binds.

“Sally, what the hell?” the leader spits.

“I don’t want her to die!” she cries, tears coming to her eyes.   
“She’s too cute to die.”

All of a sudden, Ro feels the rope snap in half, jerking her from her spot, off of the carousel, and onto the ground. 

“Damn it, Sally! I was supposed to pick who would go free.”

“Did you not want her free?”

The clown leader purses her lips and tilts her head back and forth, annoyed.

“I mean, I GUESS I did."

“Ro! Run!” Matt yells.  
“Run!"

“Shut up, Detective!” Luke hisses.  
“Or you’re gonna be the first to meet the blade!”

Ro, acting fast, pushes herself onto her feet and jets on out of there.

“Sally, you and Hogan go after Little Orphan Annie. The rest of us’ll stay here and take care of the others. Bring her back here as soon as you find her!"

Nodding, Sally gestures at the clown in red plaid and the two of them run off.

"Don’t let her get away!” the clown leader yells venomously after them.

* * *

Rosanna’s heart is pounding at several hundred miles an hour. She knows the clowns are after her. How many of them are chasing her, though, is a mystery to her. But it doesn’t matter. One killer clown, in this case, is just as horrifying as multiple killer clowns. Especially with one detail in mind; Everlock is a mystery to her. 

She has no idea where she’s running to, but she needs to get away and run long enough to divert the clowns so that she can go back and rescue her friends from the carousel of doom. 

Coming across the tent she was in earlier with Matt, she skids to a halt and zips off to the right and into the tent. She stands in the center, trying to figure out where to hide. 

“Over here!” a voice whispers.

Ro whirls her head around to see a lock of black hair hiding behind a potpourri of large carnival memorabilia. Darting to it, she kneels down and crawls behind a large clown head where she spies a familiar face.

“Calliope!” she whispers relieved, giving her a hug.  
“You’re okay!” 

“Of course,” Calliope replies.

“But how?”

“I stayed still until they went after the rest of you. I snuck back in here in the hopes that I could regain my strength and save you all. Where are the others?”

“They’re still on the carousel. They let me go.”

“Why?”

“One of them wants to keep me as a pet.”

Calliope looks at her in slight disbelief, but at the same time, there's no sign of surprise. She’s about to reply when a sing-song voice breaks the silence.

“Little Orphan Annie,” Sally sings psychotically.  
“Come out and play, little chickadee!” 

Calliope peeks around the head to see Sally and Hogan emerge inside. She quickly hides behind it again and grabs ahold of Ro, whose heart is pounding wildly. 

“What’s the big deal with her anyway?” Hogan asks her.  
“Which one is Little Orphan Annie?”

“She’s the one in the yellow beret.”

“Oh. Yeah, she’s pretty cute.”

“Pretty cute? JUST pretty cute??? Hogan, she’s absolutely adorable! I was so nervous her number was gonna come up on the dice.”

“How old do you think she is?”

Sally shrugs.

“I dunno. She looks like she’s in, maybe, her early 20s, but she could be 60 for all we know.”

Calliope looks back around the head and waits until the clowns’ backs are turned towards them. Once they are, she gestures to Ro and the two of them quietly crawl around on the ground, hoping to make it to the exit.

“So then what do we do when we find her?”

“You heard what Killer Kerrie said. We gotta bring her back to the carousel.”

“But why? We could just put her in the RV.”

“I don’t want her to be lonely, and Kerrie’s gonna probably want me back at the carousel.”

“And what about what she said about corrupting her from the ground up?”

“Not gonna happen,” she announces definitively.  
“I’m gonna make sure Little Orphan Annie is not even slightly corrupted by any of us. She’s too damn sweet and cute. I’m kinda wondering if she’s even real. There’s no way any human can be that sweet.”

“What if Nicholas finds out you’re keeping her?”

“What about him?”

“Well, you know that he’s been looking for a bride——“

“Not Little Orphan Annie. Absolutely not! I would fight him with my hands tied behind my back to make sure he doesn’t corrupt her. But if they survive, I do think Miss Pretty in Pink or Morticia could be possible candidates. They both look experienced.”

“What about the Gal in Red?”

“You know, to be honest, I’m not sure it was fair of Arnold to mark her as useless right off the bat. She also seems sweet. Maybe not as innocent, but certainly decently adorable.”

“But could she be—?”

“Possibly. But I do also want to see what she has to offer. If she’s got nothing and Nicholas doesn’t want her, THEN we’ll bash her head in—wait, what was that?”

Sally points towards an open spot and Hogan shuffles around.

“What was what?”

“I thought I saw something move. I think it was a shoe, Platform Oxford probably.  And it was, like, this beige color.”

Sally thinks over for a moment before grinning maliciously.

“Little Orphan Annie,” she sings psychotically.  
“I know you’re here.”

She strolls over to the spot slowly, but by that time, Calliope and Ro have made it outside of the tent.

* * *

Ro’s panting as she and Calliope emerge from the tent, but there’s no time to lose. The two of them take a different route to behind the carousel where, surprisingly, another twelve has been rolled.

“——what are you worth, Pretty Boy?” the leader growls.   
“Are you worth a good time with Lascivious Luke?” 

Ro and Calliope peek over a brush, careful to remain out of sight.

“The one with the waggly tail,” the leader continues.  
“Well, Miss Pretty in Pink; you got a tail you can wag for us, bitch?”

This prompts some laughter from the others.

“This is dehumanizing,” Calliope gasps.

Ro nods as the leader moves on to JC and then to Matt. But before she can say anything, two pairs of feet come running bak towards the carousel.

“Where’s Little Orphan Annie?” she asks.

“We lost her in the tent.”

“You what?” she nearly screams.

“It wasn’t our fault!” Hogan exclaims.   
“At least it wasn’t mine. But there IS something else.”

“This better be good.”

“That fortune teller woman, the one High Tower knocked out, she’s gone.”

“How is that any better?”

“Because she’s probably with Little Orphan Annie. Those two seem to have a kinship.”

The leader begins to pace back and forth. 

“That bitch,” she snarls.  
“If it wasn’t for her, we would’ve been able to hypnotize the whole damn town and turn them against her.”

Ro’s eyes grow wide.

“How?” she whispers to Calliope.

“They have various items they give to people to place them under a trance, all from the Carnival Master; they can make them think or do anything they want them to.”

“Well then,” the leader exclaims.  
“It looks like we’ll have to go off and find her ourselves. You little shits stay here. I’ll be back to release Mr. Detective as soon as we find her.”

Once the clowns leave, dropping their dice, Ro and Calliope dash from the brush.

“Ro!” Joey exclaims quietly.  
“Calliope!”

“Why are you here?” JC asks.

“We’re here to free you,” Calliope exclaims as she works on Matt’s bonds while Ro goes to undo Safiya’s. Once Matt is out, he goes over to undo Joey’s and Safiya undoes Manny’s. So on and so forth, until everyone is untied. 

“Oh my God! Thank you so much!” Nikita breathes a sigh of relief. 

Safiya goes over and picks up the dice. 

“Maybe these could be for something,” she wonders.

All of a sudden, they hear a round of gunshots. Looking up, they gasp to see that the clowns have returned.

“There she is!” Sally squeals. 

“Go! Go!” Calliope exclaims. 

The others dash into Flint’s Arcade.

“Ro, come on!” Matt exclaims as he stands outside the entrance.

Ro begins to run over when she feels a tight grasp on her arm. She tries to pull away until she feels another grasp on the other arm. Darting left and right, she finds Sally and Hogan holding her back.

“Go ahead and kill me,” she exclaims with a tremble in her voice.  
“Just leave the rest of my friends alone.”

“Kill you?” Sally asks in shock.  
“Of course not!

Sally, all of a sudden, hugs Ro in close.

“You’re too cute to die! Isn’t she, Kerrie?”

“Yeah, yeah, she’s freaking adorable,” the leader sighs.  
“But can we at least kill the Gal in Red? Arnold’s right. She seems kinda useless.”

“Can we at least check if Nicholas wants her first?”

“Fine.”

Sally turns back to Ro and begins to pet her head.

“We’re going to have so much fun together. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re well-cared for and loved. And I’ll make sure Kerrie doesn’t corrupt you. Not even a smidgeon.”

Tears form in her eyes.

“Where do we take her?” Hogan asks.

“Take her to the back of the disco tent for now,” the leader answers.  
“Arnold’s still working on a shelter for her.”

Sally and Hogan carry off a trembling Rosanna, away from the group, who is peeking out from the window of the arcade.


	2. Brother from Another Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt laments about how he didn't try.

“No! Ro!” Matt yells in anguish from inside the arcade as the two clowns carry her away and after the other clowns headed off to look for the others.

He begins to run towards the entrance when Calliope blocks his path.

“Don’t,” she advises him, holding him back.  
“Otherwise they’ll kill you.”

“They’ve got my best friend!” he exclaims through tears as he struggles against her grip.  
“I can’t let them take her!”

“Matt, calm down,” Nikita tells him.  
“It’s not that bad.”

“SHUT UP!” he yells at her viciously, startling everyone.  
“Ro is like a sister to me! I’m not letting her become a pet to some damn clowns! I HAVE to get her back.”

Right now, Nikita wants to stan a protective friend, but it’s hard to do that when said friend is yelling at her. 

“Calliope, please let me get past,” he begs.

“I’m sorry,” she says somberly, shaking her head.

"It'd be too dangerous."

In frustration, Matt walks over to the couch and, with a yell, brings a fist down on one of the cushions before flopping down and putting his hands on his face. 

“This is my fault,” he whimpers quietly.

“It’s not your fault,” Teala assures him as she sits down beside him. 

“But it is,” he cries.  
“I should’ve done something. I should’ve intervened. I should’ve…….I should’ve….”

He trails off as tears fill his eyes. Teala puts a hand on his back and rubs it.

“Ro wouldn’t blame you for this, would she?”

Matt gives a sniffle and rubs one of his eyes as tears slowly fall down his face.

“No.”

“So then why are you blaming yourself?”

This makes Matt go silent. Teala’s right. Ro is an incredibly forgiving person. She WOULD understand. 

“I just feel like I should’ve done SOMETHING,” he sighs, as Teala pulls him into a hug.   
“Anything.”

“You would’ve been killed if you did,” Calliope tells him. 

“If it meant that Ro was safe, I wouldn’t have cared.”

“We would have cared,” Joey admits.

The others nod. 

“We want both of you safe and alive,” JC assures him.

Matt takes a few moments to cry it out in Teala’s arms. He still feels responsible for this. He was the closest to the entrance of the arcade when they took her. 

“Matt, it’s really not your fault,” Colleen tells him.  
“It’s like Joey and JC said. We care about both of you. So if you had gotten yourself killed, that would be heartbreaking.”

Matt nods as he calms himself down before he and Teala break apart.

“I guess. So now what?"

“Well, it’s not over yet.” Safiya reminds him.  
“We know they’ve taken her to their disco tent.”

“But we don’t know where that is,” Matt adds as he wipes away his tears. 

“Well, there must be something in here that can tell us,” Nikita exclaims.  
“So let’s stop sulking and let’s start looking, people.”


	3. There is Nothing Like a Sundae.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now at the tent, Sally and Hogan try to comfort the crying Rosanna, until Sally has an idea to cheer Ro up.

 

Meanwhile, Hogan and Sally have arrived with Ro at the disco tent. They take her around back to reveal a little area with a lot of blankets and pillows and other things, as well as a familiar face.

“Look!” Sally exclaims excitedly.  
“Look who it is! It’s Blueberry.”

She leads Ro over to where her stuffed puppy Blueberry is. Timidly Ro picks him up.

_He looks okay. I hope that clown didn’t do anything to hurt him._

Closing her eyes, a few tears run down Ro’s face as she hugs Blueberry close to her. 

“Oh!” Sally gasps saddened and shocked.  
“Please don’t cry, sweetheart. It’s not that bad. Really it isn’t. Because you’re with us, you’ll get to go to the best part of the afterlife after we all burn to death!”

This only makes Ro cry even more. She falls to the pile of blankets and pillows with tears falling quickly, her beret falling onto one of the pillows. Heartbroken, Sally cuddles her close and pets her head.

“There, there, my dear,” she says in an attempt to soothe her.  
“It’s going to be okay. I promise. The best part about the afterlife is that you never age. So you’ll stay as sweet and adorable as you are right now. And you’ll have us to look after you and protect you.”

“Kerrie’ll come around too,” Hogan adds.  
“She’s just more mind-oriented than heart-oriented; she’s not as quick to show affection.”

Ro doesn’t feel at ease with those words. All she wants is to be with her friends. And even if Sally has good intentions, Ro’s not sure if she wants to be near her.

“Ooh! I have an idea!” Sally exclaims gently letting go of Ro.  
“I know what’ll cheer you up. Hogan, keep an eye on her while I go whip up a clownie sundae!”

Sally skips off and Ro feels slightly intrigued. She DOES like sweets. But her despair still keeps her on the pile of pillows and blankets, which is, admittedly, very soft and cozy.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Sally returns with what Ro assumes to be a clownie sundae. It’s mostly made of vanilla ice cream. On the ice cream is eyes and a mouth of chocolate chips, a cherry nose, rainbow cotton-candy hair, and whipped cream along the base, showered in rainbow sprinkles. She gently sets it down beside Ro along with a colorful spoon.

“Here you go, cutie pie,” she says gently.  
“Mamma Sally’s Special Clownie Sundae.”

Ro turns around and sees the delectable dessert. She takes ahold of the spoon and is about to dig in when she remembers what Calliope told her earlier.

_They have various items they give to people to place them under a trance, all from the Carnival Master; they can make them think or do anything they want them to._

Shaking her head, Ro puts down the spoon and nudges the dish away.

“What’s the matter, sweetie?” Sally asks.  
“Don’t you like ice cream?”

“I do, but….” Ro answers before trailing off.

“But what?” 

Ro doesn't answer. She just sits there and trembles in fear when Hogan pipes up.

“I think Calliope put something in her head that made her scared of us.”

Hearing this Sally laughs amused.

“Oh that? Oh, no. Calliope has it all wrong. We’re trying to help, not hurt."

Ro looks at her in disbelief.

"It’s not poisoned," she assures Ro.  
"It won’t make you feel pain.”

“You promise?” Ro asks.

“Cross my heart,” Sally nods.

Hesitantly Ro picks the spoon back up and takes a small scoop. Giving it a taste, she finds that it’s the creamiest and sweetest ice cream she’s ever tasted.

She takes another scoop, and another, and then, she reached the center. It’s chocolate-y, warm, and gooey. It’s a stack of brownies.

Ro is in absolute bliss. So much so that she doesn’t notice her mind fogging up or Sally whispering in her ear.

“And,” Sally says expectedly, but gently.  
“Sleep.”

She snaps her fingers and Ro gently falls to the pile of blankets and pillow, a smile on her face and Blueberry in her arms. Sally takes a blanket and places it over her before gently kissing the top of her head and standing back up. Taking a look at her, Sally gasps and puts her hand over her heart.

“She’s so cute when she’s hypnotized,” she sighs smiling.

Hogan looks at her in disbelief.

“You are obsessed with this girl," he scoffs as he shakes his head.

“Can you blame me? She’s so sweet and cute and innocent.” 

Sally kneels down beside the sleeping cutie.

“And she’s about to become even moreso.”


	4. Exposition, exposition, rush it out ASAP.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's mostly the scene from the show, with a few alterations.

 

 

The group begins to search the room. They look around in every nook and cranny, but nothing pops up as something of interest.

“Anyone find anything?” Colleen asks as she checks under one of the arcade games.

“I found celery,” Joey exclaims.

After about ten more minutes, they’ve nearly given up.

“What now?” Manny sighs.  
“We’ve checked nearly every corner."

All of a sudden, an idea pops in Colleen’s head.

“The journal! Check the journal. Maybe there’s something in there.”

“Who’s got the journal?” Nikita asks.

“I do,” Roi pipes up.

Flipping through the journal, they see pages upon pages of notes and plans until they come across a map of the room.

“It looks like there’s something by the back wall that we missed,” Safiya points out.

They head over to find a cork board, and behind it is a lock.

“Did we miss a key or something?” Teala asks.

“Wait,” Matt says.  
“Would this work? Ro and I found this in the tent with the mirror.”

They stick the key in the lock and sure enough, it works.

“Good idea about checking the journal, Colleen,” Joey tells her as they open the door.

The secret door reveals two square-shaped holes. Immediately Safiya looks back at the dice of death and puts it together. She goes over and puts the dice in the holes.

Suddenly they hear a bell.

“Guys,” Joey pipes up.  
“It sounds like it came from the fridge over there.”

Cautiously he goes over and opens it up to reveal…

“A secret passageway!” Matt exclaims.

“What?” Teala gasps.  
“I’m shook right now.”

They enter through the fridge to what looks like, according to Safiya, a “Brady Bunch Sex Dungeon.”

“The Divine Lounge,” Calliope gasps as she enters behind them.

“Guys, look!” Nikita exclaims pointing at the wall.  
“It looks like a map.”

“But it’s incomplete,” Manny adds.

Running over to it, she nearly tears it bringing it off of the wall.

“ _The cleansing of each artifact will reveal more_ ,” she reads in a corner of the map.

Taking it over to the others, the Troublemaker lays it down on a table surrounded by a bunch of a couches.

“Okay, story time, bitches!” she announces as the group gathers around her as she reads.

_We were too late. Even with all of our Society's knowledge, we didn't understand the Carnival Master's dark plan. To save Everlock, we froze it in time to give us a chance to stop him, but we were no match for his wrath. Realizing all was lost, I used the last of my life magic to encase him in an amber prison. But the spell has reached its end. At sunrise, the Carnival Master will be released from his prison and will consume all life in Everlock._

_There are eight corrupted artifacts, which the Carnival Master draws power from. If they can be gathered and cleansed of evil, the Carnival Master will be weakened and can be slain. However, the artifacts are protected, and whenever touched, their evil guardian appears. The final act to cleanse each artifact will require voting on two who must undertake a horrifying challenge that only one will survive._

_By sunrise, if the artifacts have not been cleansed and the Carnival Master slain, everyone in town, including you, will be destroyed._

“Wait, what?” Matt asks in disbelief.  
“So not only are we gonna have to save Ro and save Everlock, but we gotta save ourselves as well?”

“So you basically took us on a suicide mission,” Colleen summarizes as she glares at Joey.

“Me?” he asks in disbelief.  
“You guys knew why you were coming. I said it was dangerous.”

“Okay, but there’s a bit of a difference between dangerous and suicidal.”

“Okay, guys. I don’t think arguing’s gonna really get us anywhere,” JC pipes up.  
“What’s next?”

“I have a note,” Joey announces.

“Me too,” Nikita adds.

“I’ll read mine first.”

_Fine, go ahead and hog the spotlight._

Joey takes his note out of the envelope and reads.

_The jack needs a pleasant song so he's not so angry all the time. The clowns have one you can use, but they've taken it to their disco party, where they're guarding it. Proper attire is behind the yellow couch._

_“_ A disco party?” Colleen exclaims, relatively excited.  
“Oh, mama, I’m READY!”

“Okay, I’ll read mine now,” Nikita says, glaring at Joey for stealing the spotlight.

_The spring on the jack has been corrupted with evil and must be replaced. The clowns have hidden it in a giant tent. You have to rip the stuffing out to find it._

“Okay, so who’s going where?” Joey asks.

While they were reading the notes, Matt realizes that one of the locations was the disco party. And the clowns took Ro to the disco TENT, meaning they COULD be the same places. 

“I’ll go to the disco party,” he volunteers.

Colleen, Nikita, and JC also volunteer to go there, leaving Joey, Manny, Safiya, Roi, and Teala to go to the tent to find the spring. 

“Okay, it says proper attire’s behind the yellow couch,” Joey reminds them.

They look behind there to find red noses and pairs of white gloves. Nothing else.

“This doesn’t really constitute a disguise,” Matt pipes up as he places on his nose and gloves.

“Maybe not, but if it works, it works,” JC adds with a shrug.

Soon enough they split off.


	5. Here comes the bride, what's-her-name?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Rosanna in their clutches, the clowns decide to plot their next move.

While Sally tends to Rosanna, Hogan meets up with the others in the kitchen of the disco tent over some beers to discuss their next move.

“Now that Sally’s got what she wants,” the leader sighs in relief as she pops open a bottle.  
“I’m thinking we need to think about capturing one of the other girls for Nicholas. Who’s a potential candidate?”

High Tower, a drink in one hand, lists off the possible choices.

“There’s the Gal in Red,” she says as she holds onto a dark suitcase.  
“We’ve also got the Hottie in brown sparkles, Miss Pretty in Pink, and Morticia. Though we could also send Little Orphan Annie off to him as well.”

“Sally would have a fit,” Hogan tells her.   
“I tell you, she’s OBSESSED with Little Orphan Annie.”

“She’s always been into the cute stuff,” Arnold shrugs.   
“Remember when every time we slaughtered someone near the pet shop? She would break in and cuddle every single animal! Anyway, as for bride material, I’m thinking it should be Morticia. She looks like she’s got a dark side; Nicholas is really into chicks who look good in black.”

“Why not Miss Pretty in Pink?” Luke asks as he pops open a bottle.  
“She looks wild.”

“Nicholas would barf at the sight of her outfit. You know how he hates bright pink. And as for Gal in Red…..look, I wanna kill SOMEONE. And she seems like the least costly.”

“Okay, but hear me out,” the clown leader whispers in a low voice.  
“I wanna see if he can corrupt the cutie, even with Sally’s hypnosis. Cuz if he can corrupt someone like Little Orphan Annie, then the whole damn town is screwed."

She goes to take another drink, only to find she's downed the entire bottle.

"Shit, I'm empty. Luke, pass me another cold one."

“You really underestimate her hypnotic power,” the clown in the metal collar scoffs.  
“She’s trained for years, literally years, to surpass conventional hypnosis laws, meaning that she can hypnotize someone and make them think and do things that they don’t want to. And she can make it stick in their minds.”

“Your point?” the leader shrugs as Luke passes her another bottle and she gulps down half of it.

“Sally’s in there,” he continues, pointing to the door leading to the back tent.  
“Making her become more sweet, cute, and innocent than logic would allow. But her hypnosis has surpassed logic. On top of that, you know who trained her in hypnosis?”

The leader shrugs casually as she gulps down the beer.

“Nicholas himself.”

All of a sudden, she launches a spray of beer in the clown’s direction.

“You’re fucking with me, Mickey,” she gasps.  
“You’ve gotta be.”

Mickey shakes his head. 

“That means Little Orphan Annie is out,” High Tower says.  
“So all that are left are Hottie in brown sparkles and Morticia.”

“And Gal in Red, if I don’t get to kill her,” Arnold sighs. 

“Oh, don’t worry,” the leader assures him, now slurring slightly.  
“You’ll get to kill her. As for Hottie in brown sparkles, she seems like she’d do better at our disco parties.”

“So that just leaves Morticia,” Luke tells them.

The clown leader shrugs.

“Then I guess we’re capturing Morticia next.”

“What about Morticia?” Sally asks as she enters the kitchen.

“We’ve decided that we’re gonna offer up Morticia to Nicholas for a bride.”

Hearing this, Sally gives a sigh of relief.

“Okay, good; you didn’t choose the cutie.”

“You’re welcome,” the leader slurs sarcastically.  
“But we’ll still need your hypnosis to use on Morticia."

“Fine by me. Oh! Speaking of my hypnosis, I came in here to let you know that it was a success on Little Orphan Annie. I literally had to force myself to get away from her cuz I couldn’t stop cuddling her. She’s THAT sweet, cute, and innocent now. Anyway how do we get Morticia over here?”

“Ransom note?” Mickey suggests

“Could work, but if we needed to capture someone else, it might get old quick,” Luke points out.   
“Those little shits seem smarter than they look.”

“I’d be okay with going to get her,” Sally shrugs.  
“I just saw her and some of the others run towards the tent. If I got some backup, we could take Morticia in almost no time.”

“I’ll go with you,” Hogan volunteers.

“Wait, who’s gonna stay and guard Little Orphan Annie?” the leader asks concerned.  
“The rest of us are gonna be at the disco party.”

“You really underestimate my skills,” Sally giggles as they exit through the door to the party.  
“She’ll be fine. She’s cuddling up with Blueberry right now, sleeping like a baby."

“If you’re sure,” the leader sighs as they enter.

As soon as they do, her eyes fall on a group of clowns who have just entered the party.

“That’s funny,” she wonders in a low voice.  
“I’ve never seen them before."


	6. The Search for the Jetsetter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt, Nikita, JC, and Colleen take on the clown's disco party. From there, Matt and Nikita split off to find the whereabouts of their jet-setting friend.

Matt, Colleen, JC, and Nikita rush off to the disco party when they bump into a familiar face.

“Mortimer!” Colleen exclaims excitedly and a bit seductively, prompting a glare of death from Nikita.  
“Where’ve you been?”

“I’ve been getting some stuff. Calliope told me what happened. Here, take these.”

He puts, in her hands, two small bottles,

“If you need to get someone or something from someone real quick, just pour some of a bottle into a drink. It acts fast."

“Wait, so you want us to drug someone?” JC asks.

“I’ll do it,” Nikita volunteers without hesitation.

_Yes, pick me. I will druggeth thee._

Colleen hands one of the bottles off to Nikita.

“Alright,” he whispers somberly.  
“Good luck.”

After about a minute more of walking, they arrive at the tent. 

“Oh hey!” Colleen chirps cheerfully to the clown bouncer.  
“Is this the party? Sorry we’re late!”

“You know how traffic is when these parties happen,” Matt adds.  
“Gets real packed on the highway."

The bouncer, shrugging, lets them in. A disco ball twirls and shines from the ceiling, painting the sides with multiple colors. Disco music blares from a speaker somewhere and it’s super catchy. Colleen is so tempted to just forget about this whole “we’re-gonna-die-by-sunrise” shit and just dance the night away. Baby, she’s the Disco Dancer. This is her natural habitat!

“Okay, where would Ro be?” Matt asks.

“What makes you think Ro’s here?” Nikita asks.

“It’s a disco party. At the disco tent. I’m assuming this is the disco tent.”

“I’m gonna stay here,” Colleen says, already caught in the rhythm.

“Yeah, I’m gonna hang back as well," JC agrees.

“Fine. I’ll go with Mr. Detective and find Ro,” Nikita shrugs.

“You’re sounding a bit like those clowns,” he laughs a bit uncomfortably.  
“Speaking of.”

He points at a doorway in the back. All of the clowns, except for two, have just emerged from the back.

“How are we supposed to get back there?” Nikita whispers.

“JC and I can go over and distract them. We'll lure them away,” Colleen volunteers.

But there’s no need. The clown leader and her posse are already making their way over.

“Hey,” she says suspiciously.

“Oh hey, girl!” Colleen greets her cheerfully as she moves to the beat.  
“Sorry we’re late. We got caught in traffic.”

“I don’t think I know you four. Where are you from?”

The group shares a collective moment of “oh-no-we’ve-been-caught” until Nikita pipes up.

“We’re from Clownville,” she says.

The others agree along with her.

“Clownville?” the leader asks, narrowing her eyes.

“Yeah,” Matt nods.  
“It’s a new town for clowns. Actually it’s for recently-fired clowns. Yeah, actually all four of us got fired from a circus. Tried to stand up for our rights as clowns, but the ringmaster wouldn’t budge, so we had to kill him and make a break for it.”

This catches the leader’s attention. A twinkle shines in her eyes.

“Interesting,” she says with a smirk.  
“Wanna tell me more?”

“I can tell you!” Colleen volunteers as she and JC lead the group away.  
“I was actually the one who killed him. It was kind of a tough decision on how to kill him. I was originally gonna poison him or, like, have one of the lions eat him….”

Her voice trails off, replaced by the disco music. When Nikita and Matt look back at the door, they see that the coast is clear. They dance around groups of clowns, making their way to the back and quietly slipping through the door. They find themselves in a kitchen. They check every possible spot, but there’s no sign of Ro.

“Okay, I don’t know about you,” Nikita exclaims after a few minutes of looking.  
“But I am parched.”

She goes to the fridge. Opening it she finds bottles upon bottles of beer as well as three bottles of water.

"There's a lot of beer and, like, three bottles of water."

She grabs one for herself.

“We should get some water for Ro,” Matt tells her.  
“And I think I’d like one as well.”

_Do you want me to wipe your ass too?_

Nikita rolls her eyes as she grabs the other two bottles. Out of the corner of her eye, she spies another door. Running towards it, she slowly opens the door and peeks through.

“Oh shit!” she exclaims quietly.  
“Matt, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you were right!” 

Hearing this, Matt bolts up and towards the door. They open it a little more and Matt has to bite his tongue to keep himself from crying with joy. Sleeping on a pile of blankets and pillows, with a blue/purple stuffed dog, is his best friend Rosanna.


	7. Which is Which?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safiya and the others head to the tent to retrieve the spring while Sally and Hogan prepare to take Safiya prisoner.

As soon as the other group leaves for the disco party, Safiya, Joey, Roi, Teala, and Manny head for the tent along with Calliope.

“Okay, so what’s next?” Manny asks.

“The note said we need to rip the stuffing out to find it,” Safiya reminds them.  
“And that looks like a pile of stuffed animals."

Immediately the group begins to rip them open. Joey, as he tears each one open, thinks about what Ro would think if she saw them doing this. 

_She’d probably be sobbing._

He smiles at just how sweet she is, but feels a twinge of regret. He wish he’d done something to help as well, but then again, he's the one who brought her here, along with the other 8, in the first place, so he guesses that it kinda evens out.

He’s totally kidding himself.

“Guys, I found a silver dollar!” Manny whispers loudly.

“I found one too!” Teala exclaims. 

Safiya digs into the stuffed animal she’s currently ripping open, and lo and behold!, it’s a silver dollar.

“I’ve got one too, so what are we—?”

Her question is interrupted by a psychotic, high-pitched laugh. Immediately the groups ducks and hides behind whatever is closest to them.

“Come on out!” Sally yells as she swings her bat around.

 _Isn’t that one of the clowns that got Ro?_ Safiya wonders.

“Don’t be afraid,” Sally says with malicious innocence.  
“I just wanna play.”

After a few minutes of Sally traversing the tent and the group moving to avoid her, she leaves. Once the coast is clear, they regroup. 

“So what are we supposed to do with these?” Safiya asks quietly as she holds up her silver dollar.

“We should rip open the rest of these,” Joey suggests.  
“Maybe there are more.”

After a few minutes of tearing open each stuffed animal, they only find one more coin. 

“So what are we supposed to do with these?” Roi asks. 

“Maybe that could help,” Manny suggests pointing to a box. 

They take all of their coins and sure enough, there’s a slot for them. Once all of the coins are placed inside, it opens up to reveal a little comic about some sort of superhero named Zero-G Man and a bunch of empty balloons. But little do they know someone's following their progress.

 

* * *

 

Outside of the tent, Hogan and Sally are preparing an ambush. 

“What are they doing now?” he asks.

“They’re working on the comic about Zero-G man.”

“Never really could get into those comics. Superheroes bore me.”

“Yeah.”

There’s a few moments of silence.

“Why can’t we just ambush her now?” Hogan asks.

“Psychology.”

“What?”

“If we let them progress far enough along, giving them hope, and then intervene near the end, that’s gonna damage their morale much more than if we just jump in right away.”

“Why does that matter?”

“It matters in the long run.”

“How do you know?”

“I studied psychology under Nicholas. He taught me how to hypnotize and then I went past natural law; at that point, he said he couldn’t teach me much more about hypnosis.”

All of a sudden, they hear a balloon pop and Teala gives off a scream. Sally steps inside with her bat.

“Come out and play, little chickadees,” she taunts them.  
“Knock, knock!”

She continues to walk around the tent a bit. A few times, she swears she spies who the leader calls Mr. Half-Dead, in his ascot, but she pretends not to notice. She’s not here for him. 

“Hello?” she calls out.  
“Come out and play!”

She waits to see if anyone will take her challenge. After moments of silence, she shrugs and walks towards where she entered.

“Well, I’m just gonna have to tell her they’re not here!” she shrugs knowingly.

Once she’s out, she darts to the side where Hogan is.

“Okay, you go to the other entrance of the tent; once they find the spring, that’s when I’m gonna come back. I’ll chase them out and then you grab Morticia.”

“Right,” he says nodding.  
“Which one’s Morticia again?”

“Black hair, brown coat, red top.”

“Got it,” he nods before going around to the other side.

It seems like ages before they finally find the spring. But once they do, Sally is ready.

Safiya begins reading the note they found.

“It says  _This artifact requires one more piece to be replaced—_ “

“Here’s Sally!” she cackles as she enters the tent.

As expected they run out the other side. Hogan prepares to capture the target. He grabs ahold of her as the others run off, covering her mouth so that she can’t scream for help. Once they’re out of sight, Sally rushes over to him.

“We’ve got you now, Morti——!“

Sally trails off as she looks at who Hogan has captured. She does indeed have black hair, but….

“Hogan,” she asks, trying to hold in her anger.  
“Why does Morticia have a red coat and a brown top?”

He shrugs.

“That’s what you told me she looked like.”

“No, you idiot! Morticia has a BROWN coat and a RED top. This is the Gal in Red!"


	8. Adorable to the Nth Degree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: As the chapter title indicates, Rosanna is INCREDIBLY adorable in this chapter. If you are allergic to adorableness, then  
> 1\. Please proceed with extreme caution.  
> 2\. Why are you reading this if you are allergic to adorableness? Rosanna's in at least half of the chapters.

Matt can’t believe his eyes. There’s his best friend, right in front of him. Now’s his chance to redeem himself of what happened before. But first, they have to wake her up.

The two of them kneel down and take a quick look at her before gently nudging her.

“Hey, Ro,” Matt whispers gently as he nudges her shoulder.   
“Wake up, sleepyhead.”

“Ro, time to get up,” Nikita contributes.

After a few moments, they hear an adorable groan coming from her and she begins to stir. Her eyes flutter in such a way that makes Matt’s heart melt.

“Is she usually that cute?” Nikita asks, trying to keep herself from squealing. 

“I mean, she’s pretty cute,” Matt shrugs as he tries to hold his squealing back as well.

“Yeah, but this is like out-of-this-world cute."

Ro gives another adorable groan as her eyes flutter some more until they open.

“Ma—mamma?” she asks in the sweetest voice.

Even Nikita can barely contain herself. 

“Should we be worried?” she asks through squeals.

“I don’t know,” Matt whimpers alongside her.

She looks up at the two of them with the most innocent eyes.

“You’re not my momma,” she tells them as she tilts her head in confusion.  
“Who are you?”

Matt’s taken aback by this. 

“Ro, it’s me, Matpat,” he laughs, thinking that she’s just playing a joke on him.

She continues to look at him with those cute eyes.

“Where’s mamma?” she asks.

“Mamma?” Nikita asks after a few deep breaths.

“Mamma Sally,” Ro answers as she holds onto Blueberry.

This sends a red flag off in Matt’s mind.

“Ro, what’s gotten into you?” he asks worried.

“Why are you acting like you know me?"

“Cuz I’m your best friend.”

All he receives is a blank stare of confusion. His heart begins to break and Nikita decides to take over.

“Ro, this isn’t funny,” she tells her.  
“Stop kidding around.”

“I’m not kidding,” she tells them.  
“I really don’t know who you are. Where’s Mamma Sally? I need her.”

“That’s enough. We’re going to take you to the lounge.”

Nikita holds out her hand, but Ro pushes it back.

“Mamma Sally told me to never go anywhere with strangers.”

“Wait a minute. You mean Sally? As in “carries-a-bat-with-nails-in-it” Sally?” Matt asks confused.

Ro nods innocently.

“Where is Mamma Sally? She said she was gonna get me some water."

All of a sudden, it clicks in his head what’s happened to her. He gets an idea.

“Uh, actually, that’s why we’re here,” he tells her.  
“Your mom actually couldn’t make it back and she told us to bring you water. Isn’t that right, Nikita?”

He gives her a look to try to communicate his idea. Luckily it clicks with her. 

“Yes, that’s why we’re here. I just need to get it open.”

Pulling out one of the water bottles, Nikita opens it, as well as the bottle of drugs. She takes a small sniff of the drugs. Smelling nothing she pours it into the bottle. Luckily for her and Matt, the liquid is colorless as well as odorless. She seals the drugs and places on the ground. 

“Here you go, sweetheart,” Nikita says as she turns back to Ro, making eye contact and causing her to pause briefly as she’s taken in by the adorableness.

_Oh my God! Whatever that bitch did to her is powerful._

Without any suspicion, Ro takes the water and gulps it down while Matt grabs the bottle of drugs and sneaks it into his pocket. After a few moments, Ro give off an adorable yawn.

“I feel……sleepy,” she tells them, her voice getting softer.  
“I’m gonna take a nap now. Thank you so much for the water, Miss Nikita.”

She sounds like a sweet little girl thanking Nikita before cuddling back up with Blueberry.

“Matt,” Nikita says in a completely serious tone.  
“I don’t know what that bitch did to Rosanna, but she’s so fucking adorable. I honestly wanna hug her so tight.”

“Same,” Matt agrees.  
“Now let’s get her to the lounge. Maybe Calliope can undo this mess.”


	9. Lil Miss Curly Top, Off to the Candy Shop.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having grabbed Teala instead of Safiya, Sally and Hogan try to determine their next move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Teala's about to become adorable in this.

“You grabbed the wrong girl!” Sally screams at Hogan.

Teala’s now tied up in the tent as the two clowns argue. She would add something to the conversation, but they’ve placed a gag in her mouth.

“Well, to be fair, those two shared the same hair color.”

“That’s not good enough! Did I not tell you EXACTLY what she looked like?”

“Yeah, but I guess my mind mixed them up. C’mon, Sally. There was a lot of commotion. Should you really be blaming me? I at least tried to get her!”

Sally considers this and, pursing her lips, tilts her head side to side in annoyance as she inhales sharply through her nose.

“I mean, yes,” she sighs.  
“I suppose you TRIED. And I can KINDA see where you made that mistake. But now we need to deal with who we have right now.”

The two of them turn towards Teala. 

“You know, she’s kinda cute,” Sally admits with a soft smile.  
“Certainly not Little Orphan Annie cute, but she’s definitely adorable.”

Teala looks up at the clowns with wide eyes and Sally feels her heart melt a little.

“Maybe she could be Little Orphan Annie’s sister,” she suggests to Hogan.  
“Two cuties means double the cute. And can you imagine her under the same hypnosis as Little Orphan Annie?”

Teala’s eyes grow wide and she begins to scream under the gag.

“Wait. I have an idea,” Hogan gasps. 

He whispers into Sally’s ear and Sally’s smile grows.

“That’s perfect!” she exclaims. 

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a bottle and a spoon.

“This is the same stuff I used for the clownie sundae. Gives it the extra bliss she experienced. Take the gag off of her.”

Hogan kneels down and holds Teala back as he removes the gag. As soon as he does, Teala screams for help, so he stuffs his glove in her mouth.

“No one is going to be able to hear you, so don’t bother, sweetie,” Sally tells her condescendingly.

Slowly Hogan removes his glove. Teala looks up at Sally, trembling. 

“Oh, don’t be afraid, dearie,” Sally tells her gently as she kneels down and pets her head.  
“I’m not going to hurt you. You’re nearly too cute to die.”

“What?” Teala exclaims confused.

“Why do you think I wanted Little Orphan Annie spared?”

“You mean Ro?” Teala asks.

Hearing this, Sally blinks in confusion.

“Ro?”

“Yeah. Little Orphan Annie’s real name is Rosanna.”

Hearing this, Sally’s face lights up. 

“That’s kind of a cute name. And I suppose since I’m her mamma now, she’s not a little orphan anymore. I think you also need a new nickname. Gal in Red doesn’t have a ring to it.”

She scans Teala as she contemplates a new nickname.

“You could just call me Teala,” Teala tells her.

“I know! How about Lil Miss Curly Top?”

Sally then begins to chant a sort of rhythm, tilting her head along with it.

“ _Lil Miss Curly Top_

_Skipping to the candy shop._

_The cutie goes inside_

_and buys a lollipop._ ”

She takes one of Teala’s wavy curls and pulls it back, making it bounce a bit as she lets go and cackles psychotically.

“I love it!” she squeals, clapping her hands.

She then turns back to the bottle and pours out a spoonful of milky-white liquid with a red streak in it. 

“Drink up, Lil Miss Curly Top!” she orders Teala.

Teala pulls her head back and Sally frowns at her.

“Are you disobeying your mother?”

“You’re not my mother!” Teala exclaims angrily.

Taking this chance, Sally shoves the spoon into Teala’s mouth and the concoction goes down her throat.

"Not yet, but soon I will be," Sally chuckles.

It’s the sweetest thing Teala’s ever tasted and she sighs in bliss, her mouth turning up in a smile. Endorphins flood her brain and her eyes twinkle in happiness. Sally feels her heart melt a bit more.

“Do you want some more?” Sally asks her as if she were a small child.

Teala nods excitedly.

“Yes, yes please!” 

“Yes please, who?” Sally prompts her.

“Yes please, Mamma Sally,” Teala answers in a sweet voice.

Sally pours out another spoonful. Each time, Teala asks “May I have some more please, Mamma Sally?” Her mind begins to condition her and once it’s ingrained in her mind, it begins to fog it up.

“And,” Sally whispers expectedly.  
“Sleep.”

And just like that, Teala’s out like a light. Sally takes a step back and stands up.

“She’s so cute when she’s hypnotized,” she sighs.

“Are you gonna become obsessed with her as well?” Hogan asks.

“Certainly not,” Sally gasps.  
“She may be cute and innocent, but even with the hypnosis, I doubt she’ll be as cute and innocent as Little Orphan Annie.”

She kneels back down.

“And she’s also gonna be our way to get Morticia.”


	10. Hypnosis and Its Conventions, Also Known As Just How Screwed Are the Guests?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They all reconvene in the lounge and learn the true extent of Sally's hypnosis.

After grabbing her beret, and informing JC and Colleen of their situation, Matt and Nikita carry the sleeping Ro to the lounge and lay her on the couch. 

“Where’s Calliope?” Nikita asks.

“I think she went off with the other group,” Matt answers.

“Okay, so what are we supposed to do until then?”

Matt shrugs.

“I guess we just wait.”

A few moments pass. Nikita’s eye is caught by Ro.

“Matt, I actually wanna squeeze her so damn tight. What the hell did that bitch do to her?”

“I'd guess some form of mind control or hypnosis. But there are certain rules to hypnosis. Ro would have to be willing for it to work, and I don’t think she would’ve done this willingly."

“Could that bitch’s hypnosis be so powerful that it doesn’t follow those rules?”

Matt shrugs.

“If it is, then we’re all screwed.”

Some more time passes. Colleen and JC enter the lounge with a small circular object.

“We got the song for the jack-in-the-box,” Colleen tells them.

The two of them, eyes falling on the sleeping Ro, skid to a halt.

“Uh, is that cute little muffin normally THAT cute of a little muffin?” Colleen asks, trying to stifle her squeals.

“We’re thinking she was hypnotized,” Matt answers as the two of them sit down.

Not but a few moments later, the other group enters.

“Oh my God!” Joey exclaims as his eyes fall on Ro.  
“You guys got Ro back. And she’s……super cute now? Can I pinch her cheeks? Please?”

Safiya, though feeling protective after seeing the cute little sleeping muffin, senses that something’s off.

“What happened to her?”

“We’re thinking that Sally may have used some sort of hypnosis,” Matt explains.  
“Only problem is that Ro would have to have been willing for it to work and I doubt she was willing. So it might be possible that this sort of hypnosis surpasses logic.”

“Meaning that if it does, we might all be screwed,” Safiya finishes.

Matt nods somberly as Calliope steps forward.

“This is powerful magic,” she gasps as she kneels down beside Ro.  
“Who did you say did this to her?”

“Sally, I think her name is.”

Calliope closes her eyes and sighs somberly.

“Then it’s worse than I thought. Sally Slaughter is a master hypnotist. She trained under the Carnival Master for years until her hypnosis came to a point where it breaks convention. He gave her and the others objects to enchant that would make anyone they want fall far under a trance.”

“When you say it breaks convention—?” Matt begins fearful of the answer.

“Her hypnosis can work on even the most stubborn and resistant of minds.”

“So we are screwed,” Colleen sighs as she puts her face in her hands.

“Is there a way that it can be reversed?” Matt asks hopefully.

“Yes,” Calliope answers.  
“There is a way to create an antidote that would bring the spell back into conventional laws, but it’s a very meticulous and precise process. Once you’ve created and given her the antidote, I can use my magic to bring her further out of the trance.”

“Wait, guys,” Safiya gasps suddenly.  
“Is it just me or are we short one person?”

Everyone looks around at each other, blinking, until it hits them.

“Do you mean—?” Manny asks.

Safiya nods.

“I think the clowns captured Teala.”


	11. The Spy Who Lured Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Ro still unconscious, the group must decide their next move when Teala arrives with a gift.....or so it seems.

“Wait, how did you not notice that she was gone?” Matt asks in disbelief.

“We were running from Sally and I guess we got caught up in the need to just get out of here,” Roi shrugs.

“Wait,” Safiya gasps.  
“If Sally was there, and she’s a master hypnotist, Calliope, do you think….?”

“It is very possible. Sally is the most forgiving out of all of the clown clan, so she would find some sort of use for her.”

“That’s like saying a particular murderer is the most merciful out of all of the murderers in existence,” Manny adds with a shudder. 

“So do we go back and get her?” Roi asks.

“That’d be too dangerous,” Calliope says shaking her head.   
“If she catches you, you too could fall under her spell.”

“But what about the antidote?” Colleen reminds the group.  
“We need to get Ro out of her trance.”

"I guess we don't have much of a choice," Joey sighs.  
“We’re gonna have to go out there and get the antidote."

“But what about the jack-in-the-box?” Safiya reminds them.  
“The note that we found says that it needs one more piece to cleanse it; a new jack.”

“We can deal with that once we save Teala and cure Ro,” Nikita says definitively. 

“Speak of the devil,” JC pipes up, pointing at the doorway.

Whirling their heads around, they turn to see Teala walking into the lounge. Immediately Safiya has a feeling that something is up.

“Teala!” Joey exclaims.  
“Are you okay?”

Teala nods.

“Yes, I am fine,” she answers with a bit of a sweet voice.

Hearing her speak only further confirms Safiya’s suspicions that something’s been done to Teala.

“Guys, don’t get too close,” she warns the group.

“Why?” JC asks.

“I am fine,” Teala repeats in her abnormal speech pattern.

“That’s why,” Safiya answers, a shiver running through her spine. 

“Safiya,” Teala chirps cheerfully.  
“I have something I need to show you. I found the jack head for the jack-in-the-box.”

“Really?” Roi asks excitedly.

“I don’t believe you,” Colleen tells her.  
“It sounds too good to be true.”

In response, Teala reaches into her pocket and pulls out a smiling jack head.

“Oh my God,” Manny gasps.

“Great,” Joey exclaims eagerly.  
“Can you give it to us?”

“I will give it to Safiya.”

The group looks at the Investigative Reporter.

“What? Why me?” she asks in confusion.

“I will give it to Safiya.”

“Can you just give it to us?” Manny asks impatiently.

“I will give it to Safiya.”

Safiya shakes her head.

“I’m not taking it.”

“I’ll do it,” Roi shrugs eagerly as he swaggers over to Teala. 

Reaching out for the jack head, he’s foiled when Teala moves her hand far out of reach. He tries again and the same result occurs. About ten tries later, Roi’s unsuccessful.

“I will give it to Safiya.”

“Can we just restrain the bitch and take it from her?” Nikita groans clasping a hand over her face in frustration.

“If this is Sally’s hypnosis, her subjects can become incredibly violent if they experience a sort of interference,” Calliope replies shaking her head.

“I will give it to Safiya.”

“Well,” JC tells Safiya with a shrug.  
“She’s only going to give it to you.”

“Guys, I feel like this is some sort of trap,” she says cautiously.

 _But why me?_ she wonders.  
 _Why would the clowns be so interested in taking me captive? They always seem to be like ten steps ahead, so they probably don’t need a mind on their team. So then why me?_

“Well, we need the jack head to cleanse the artifact,” Nikita snaps in frustration.  
“So either you take it or you let us all die.”

Safiya feels kind of attacked. Right now, Nikita seems to be throwing her to the wolves. But regardless, she’s right; they NEED that jack head. 

“Okay,” she sighs reluctantly, shrugging.

She stands up and reaches for the jack head. Before she can get it, Teala steps back, just out of reach. She tries this again and the same thing happens. After multiple times, she finds that Teala is luring her out of the arcade and towards the tent where they found the spring.

“Look, Teala, can you just please give me the jack head like you said you were going to?” she groans as she reaches for the head for what feels like the millionth time in a row.  
"Otherwise we’re all going to die by sunrise.”

Teala gives no response, merely moving backwards each time Safiya reaches for the jack head. 

Soon enough they enter and Teala stops just before the center ring of the tent, enabling Safiya to grab ahold of the jack head.

“Thank you,” she sighs in frustration.  
“Now let’s get out of here.”

She turns around to leave when she finds two clowns blocking her path. The one in red plaid grabs ahold of her arms. She struggles against his grasp. 

“Go?” Sally Slaughter asks with malicious innocence.  
“But you just arrived to the party, Morticia.”

Teala stands beside Sally with a smile and Safiya realizes; it IS a trap.

“What did you do to Teala?” Safiya growls angrily as Teala snatches the jack head from her.

Sally gives her signature psychotic cackle as Hogan ties her in ropes. A twinge of worry begins to sprout inside of Safiya.

“What do you want with me?” she exclaims. 

But just after she says that, Hogan stuffs and ties a gag around her. Dragging her into the center of the tent, he pushes her to the ground.

“You’ve made mamma proud,” Sally coos over Teala as she rubs her head, causing Teala to beam with pride.

“Mamma,” Teala pipes up softly turning from side to side innocently with her hands behind her back.  
“Little Orphan Annie’s in the lounge. Should I go fetch her?”

“Yes, of course!” Sally gasps.

Happily Teala skips off while Sally pulls out the bottle. Teala had already consumed half of it. She sets it aside. as she steps into the center. Safiya has never felt this scared in her life.

“Okay, so, let’s just clear this up, woman to woman,” she hisses at Safiya, coming down her level.

“Don’t try to scream for help. No one will be able to hear you except for Hogan and myself. Got it?"

Safiya nods timidly. Sally rips off the gag.

“What do you want with me?” Safiya asks confused, with a tremble in her voice, as Sally takes out another spoon.   
“I mean, you clearly don’t need a set of brains for the team. You’re all like ten steps ahead of us.”

“You’re right,” Sally agrees as she pulls out a bag of salt.  
“We DON’T need you. But the Carnival Master might need you.”

“For what?” 

“Well, he’s been looking for a bride. And if he decides that he likes you...”

Safiya immediately puts two and two together and the color drains from her face.

“You’re joking, right?” she laughs nervously.  
“You’re not actually going to marry me off to the Carnival Master, are you?”

“We’ll just have to see.”

Sally sprinkles a circle of salt around herself, Hogan, and Safiya. After placing a creepy doll in the center, she grasps Hogan’s and Safiya’s hands and begins to chant, as Hogan grasps Safiya’s other hand.

_We who reside in the circle of salt wish to communicate with the Carnival Master. With your spirit, we implore you to enter into the corpse in the center so that we might speak with you._

A bright green light emits from the salt and collects into the doll/corpse. It begins to rise and glow green. There’s a ripping sound and then two more. Two eyes and a mouth have been carved out of it. The eyes glow bright blue as does the chest. 

“He’s here,” Sally whispers excitedly, and as Safiya looks on in complete terror.


	12. The Marathon of Adorable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the group waits for Safiya to return, Rosanna wakes up and soon a marathon of adorable begins.

Back at the lounge, the group begins to worry after Safiya doesn’t return ten minutes later.

“Maybe she was right,” Colleen sighs regretfully.

“Maybe it was a trap.”

“I mean, Safiya did tell us it probably was,” Matt reminds the group.

All of a sudden, they hear a kitten-like yawn. They turn to see that the drugs have worn off and Ro’s awake. Opening her eyes, she gasps when she sees where she is.

“This is new,” she remarks.

She turns to Matt, who’s sitting beside her, and smiles.

“You’re the guy who got me water!” she exclaims as she pulls him into a tight hug. 

The others try to stifle giggles and squeals.

“You’re like a giant teddy bear!” she exclaims to Matt as she pushes him into the cushions.

Even Matt can’t help but smile and hug her back.

“Can I PLEASE pinch her cheeks?” Joey squeals quietly.   
“I mean, if we don’t have the antidote yet, we might as well enjoy an extra adorable Rosanna, which I didn’t even know was possible.”

“Okay, so who’s gonna go make the antidote?” JC asks.

They all look at each other. No one seems to want to leave.

“I mean, do we HAVE to make the antidote right now?” Colleen asks reluctantly.   
"I don't know if I wanna leave this cute little muffin alone."

Colleen reaches out and pinches Ro's cheeks, causing Ro to giggle and Colleen to envelope her in a tight hug.

“That’s part of the hypnosis,” Calliope warns them.   
“This kind of spell radiates and affects those around the one affected.”

“Meaning?” Manny asks.

“Ro’s adorableness is affecting you all.”

“And not you?” 

“I’ve trained against her hypnosis effects. Sometimes the skills slip, but I’ve been mastering them.”

“So then why don’t you go make the antidote yourself?”

“Because it requires multiple people to make it.”

All of a sudden, they hear another set of footsteps. Everyone looks over to see Teala skipping inside and giggling.

“Curly Top!” Ro gasps as she runs over to hug her. 

She and Teala embrace and the other guests feel their hearts melting.

“My wig has been snatched,” Nikita gasps.

As she says that, Teala runs over and snatches Nikita’s wig right off of her head, revealing her real hair.

“Now it's literally been snatched,” Matt chuckles as Ro begins to chase Teala around the couch.

“Wait,” Manny gasps sarcastically.  
“You’re NOT naturally a blonde?”

Huffing, Nikita stands up and chases the two of them around.

“Come back here!” she screams as the three of them run around the couch.  
“That wig is worth more than all of our makeup combined!”

By this time, Joey and Colleen are on the ground and the couch, rolling around and laughing intensely, trying to catch their breath and nearly crying.

“Manny!” Nikita shrieks.  
“Help me!”

Stifling a set of giggles, Manny gets up and grabs Teala as she comes around the couch. Nikita comes up and takes the wig out of her hands, placing it back on her head and bobby pinning it back on tight. 

“Ro,” Teala announces innocently.  
“Mamma wants you back at the tent.”

Hearing this Ro folds her arms and gives a little pout.

“But I wanna stay with my friends,” she whines cutely as she stomps her foot.  
“I just woke up from my nap.”

“Yeah, maybe she should stay for a little bit,” Joey agrees, standing up and nudging Ro over to the couch as he wipes the tears from his eyes.

“But don’t we have to make the antidote?” JC asks confused.

“What antidote? I...don’t know what you mean!” Joey blurts out quickly as Ro plops down on the couch. He sits down beside her and they envelope each other in a hug. He feels something on his lower back. Reaching behind him, he pulls out Blueberry.

“It’s my stuffed aminal!” Ro gasps excitedly as she snatches for Blueberry, but Joey pulls it out her reach.  
“Hey, give him back!”

“What’s the magic word?” he asks her with a giggle.

Ro looks at him confused, tilting her head.

“Abracadabra?” she asks innocently.

Matt gives off a snort and a high—pitched giggle as Teala plops down beside him and envelopes him in a tight hug. Meanwhile, JC stands up, shaking his head.

“I’ll go with you, Calliope,” he tells her.   
“They’re both super adorable, but we do have work to do.”

“Bless you, child,” she sighs in relief.  
“Is there anyone else?”

“Well, if we find Mortimer, I’m sure he can help,” JC assures her.

“I’ll go with you as well,” Roi volunteers.

“I can try to pull myself away to help,” Nikita pipes up.  
“I don’t want my wig to get snatched again.”

But as soon as she says that, Teala bolts up and rips her wig right off. Ro stands up and begins to chase her. Closing her eyes and pursing her lips in annoyance, she takes a deep breath in and huffs.

“Manny?” she shrieks. 

“I’ve got you,” he sighs. 

Immediately he grabs Teala and Nikita grabs her wig. Finding all of the bobby pins, she pins it extra tight into her hair.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go with you,” she confirms to Calliope.

“I’ll go with you as well,” Manny sighs.  
“But where are we gonna go?”

“Someplace the map has not revealed yet,” Calliope whispers.

They all stand up. Before they go, they take another look at Ro and Teala who are now talking to each other.

“Do you think this cushion loves me?” Ro asks Teala as she holds one of the cushions from the yellow couch.  
“Because I love it.”

She pulls it into a tight hug and twists her body from side-to-side. Manny and Nikita attempt to stifle giggles as JC and Calliope pull them out of the lounge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Credit to Bird_Of_Scarlet for the "Do you think this cushion loves me" line).


	13. The Bride of the Carnival Master.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Carnival Master and Safiya meet for the very first time.

As the levitating doll positions itself upright, sharp, pointy teeth begin to form in its mouth, making it look demented.

“Who’s summoned me?” growls a low, American voice as the mouth of the doll moves along with it.

“Sally Slaughter and Homicidal Hogan,” Sally answers as the doll turns to face her.  
“You’re not busy, are you?”

“Yes, I am,” he answers sarcastically.  
“Because being stuck in amber with nothing to do is such busy work.”

He gives a huff.

“This’d better be good.”

“We think we may have found a bride for you.”

This seems to catch his attention.

“Hmm, is she here?”

“She is indeed. She’s right behind you.”

Turning itself around, the doll locks eyes with Safiya. The neon blue burns into her dark eyes.

“Well,” he purrs.  
“Color me intrigued. You got one from the future too.”

“And she would look lovely in a black wedding dress.”

“Yeah,” he agrees quietly.  
“She would.”

He seems to have stopped as if something in particular caught his attention.

“What is your name?” he asks her.

“It’s Safiya,” she replies, trying to swallow down her fear.   
“Safiya Nygaard."

“Safiya Nygaard,” he repeats slowly.  
“Hmm. I like it. Has a dark edge to it, especially with the last night. Almost sounds like night-guard. And I do so love the night.”

His gazes burrows deeper into her mind.

“Hmm, she’s rather intelligent. She loves black. She can sing too. That’s a plus.”

The rest he kind of mumbles to himself, so Safiya can’t make out what he’s saying.

“Who the hell is Tyler?” he growls.

“My boyfriend,” she replies candidly.

He huffs in dissatisfaction before continuing. After what feels like eternity, he turns from her and back to Sally.

“Well,” he coughs.  
“I’m rather impressed with this one.”

“Does that mean you want to marry her?” Sally exclaims eagerly.

He takes a moment, either to consider or to add suspense (Safiya’s assuming it’s both, at this point). But finally the damning phrase escape his mouth.

“Yes. She’s my bride now.”

Hearing this, Safiya feels her heart sink. Sensing this, the Carnival Master turns to face her.

“Come now,” he says gently to her.  
“Look at me.”

She does so reluctantly.

“Would it truly be so bad to be my bride?” he asks.   
"You barely know me, after all. I promise I’m a nice guy. I can give you everything you want and more. Knowledge, power, time, it’ll all be yours, Safiya. All you have to do is let me help you get in touch with your dark side. You’ll see that there is light in the dark, and that there’s nothing to be afraid of. All you have to do….”

One of the doll’s hands slowly rises up and begins to glow black.

“…..is take my hand.”

Sally gestures for her to take ahold of it. Just as she’s about to…

“Wait!” Sally exclaims.  
“I adopted these two girls; they’re super adorable and innocent. Will she try to corrupt them or hurt them?”

He turns to Sally.

“No, of course not,” he assures her.  
“She’ll be caring to them, I promise.”

Sally breathes a sigh of relief.

“Now,” the Carnival Master purrs as he turns back to Safiya.  
“Take my hand, and I’ll show you the light in the dark.”

Sally once again gestures for her to take it. Seeing that she doesn’t really have a choice, Safiya slowly reaches out for it and grabs ahold of the felt hand. 

All of a sudden, a surge of power flows through her body. As her veins begin to glow black, her body is enveloped in a black aura; she grasps her head and cries out in pain as the surge travels up into her brain. All of a sudden, she feels herself being lifted into the air and she hears his voice in her mind.

_Let the power flow through you. Let it take over. Know that there is nothing to fear, my dear._

Her clothes transform into a long-sleeved flowing dress with triangles cut into the sleeves and hem of the skirt. On her feet, black stilettos begin to form. A dark crown forms on top of her head and black gloves form on her hands. In her right hand, a tall, dark staff with a translucent orb appears and a black ring appears on her ring finger.

_Give into your dark side. Feel the liberation. No more social expectations. You’ll be free very soon._

Her lips turn midnight-black. Black eyeshadow forms and black eyeliner forms on her eyes. 

_Give in and accept me. Close your eyes. You’ll be in control now. No one will ever try to hurt you again._

Safiya feels a strong surge of power through her body as her mind begins to shift. Her dark side becomes more amplified. Her intelligence increases. And she feels a devotion to the Carnival Master envelope her mind. Then she feels a final jolt of power. The aura explodes and she slowly drops to the ground with her head low. The doll drops as the Carnival Master gives a final laugh which gradually fades out.

Hogan and Sally stare at her briefly.

“Safiya?” Sally whispers gently.  
“Are you okay?”

“Safiya is no more,” a deep, powerful, female voice announces, startling the two of them.

Safiya raises her head slowly. Her eyes have become darker.

“I am now the bride of the Carnival Master; I am the Dark Queen Safiya,” she announces in her new, deeper, powerful voice as she stands to her full glory.  
"Empress of the Night and Mistress of the Carnival.”

 


	14. Lights Out!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The groups reconvene, and discover a shocking truth.

Back at the lounge, the group is cuddling with Ro and Teala.

“You know, it might not be so bad to burn up in flames,” Matt shrugs.  
“As long as we have each other.”

“See?” Ro exclaims excitedly.  
“That’s the kind of positivity we all need!”

Teala nods eagerly in agreement.

Suddenly, the other group dashes back into the lounge with two portions of the antidote.

“We got it!” Nikita pants.  
“We did have some trouble with some of the clowns, one of them tried to snatch my wig—“

She covers her mouth after realizing what she just said, but Teala’s already up and ripping the wig off. And soon after Ro is up and chasing her around the couch, the two of them giggling.

“Don’t even say anything,” Manny sighs as Nikita’s face scrunches up in fury. He snatches Teala and Nikita grabs her wig.

“They’re both lucky they’re so adorable,” she fumes as she pins it back on tightly and Roi sets the antidotes on the table.  
“Otherwise I would’ve murdered them both.”

“Did you find Mortimer?” Colleen asks eagerly. 

“They did,” a voice behind them answers.

Colleen’s heart begins to pound rapidly as Mortimer enters the room with a piece of paper in his hands. He sets it down on the table.

“We found this note at the pharmacy where we made the antidotes.”

Matt picks up the note and reads it aloud

_Carnival Master corrupted one of you._

This sends a chill through everyone, except for Ro and Teala who are now cuddling with Blueberry in one of the corners of the lounge.

“What?” Colleen gasps.  
“Who?”

“Mortimer, do you feel funny?” Joey asks.

“Why do you think it’s me?” he exclaims.   
“The Carnival Master would never be able to corrupt me.”

“Are you sure about that?” 

“Guys,” JC points out concerned.  
“It’s been a long time since we saw Safiya. Shouldn’t we go look for her?”

All of a sudden, they hear a clap of thunder and the lights go out, causing everyone to scream and Ro and Teala to cry.

“It’s the dark!” they shriek in unison as tears fall down their eyes.

All of a sudden, they hear another scream, soon muffled and several sets of footsteps. They then hear a second set of footsteps, another scream, and more footsteps. Once those have passed, and a few moments later, the lights come back on.

“Is everyone okay?” Calliope asks.

“Let’s do a roll call,” Joey suggests.  
“Matt?”

“Here.”

“JC?”

“Here.”

“Mortimer?”

“Here.”

“Colleen?”

“I’m here.”

“Roi?”

“I’m here."

“Ro?”

“President!”

“Teala?”

“Peasant!”

“Nikita?”

There’s no response.

“Nikita?”

Again, nothing.

“Where’s Nikita?” 

The group looks around the lounge, but there’s no sign of the Troublemaker.

“Manny?”

There’s also no response.

“Manny?”

Again, no response.

“Guys,” Matt sighs somberly.  
“I think they were taken captive."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might try to add more to this chapter, but yeah. The Troublemaker and the Record Producer have disappeared.


	15. Operation Insanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (If you have a fear of surgeries/hospitals/sharp things, proceed at your own discretion).
> 
> Nikita and Manny are taken to meet their new queen. But in order for them to be fully indoctrinated, they must give up a part of themselves, namely their sanity.

“Let go of us, you bitches!” Nikita snarls as the clowns drag her and Manny away from the arcade.

“Not gonna happen, Miss Pretty in Pink,” the leader laughs psychotically.  
“You and Pretty Boy are about to experience what it’s like to be a clown.”

“If you think that’s gonna happen,” Manny scoffs.  
“You can kiss my ass.”

“Oh, I think you’re gonna be the one who’s kissing ass in a second, Pretty Boy,” Luke purrs seductively as he traces Manny’s chin with his finger, causing him to shiver. 

They drag them to the main tent where they push them down to their knees.

“Bow before your new queen,” the leader hisses at them.

Manny and Nikita look at each other in confusion. 

“Okay, listen up, you smurf-haired bitch,” Nikita spits as she stands up and faces the leader.  
“We don’t bow to anyone, so you can fuck off and go to hell.”

“Is that so?” a deep and powerful voice echoes slowly around the tent. 

Shocked, Nikita turns around to see a girl with midnight-black hair and matching black attire. 

“Safiya?” Manny asks in pure shock.

“I am the Dark Queen Safiya,” she announces.  
“And you both WILL bow before me!”

She shoots a rope of black energy out at Nikita. It wraps around her mind and her eyes become completely black and empty. 

“Now, kneel and bow before me, Nikita.”

“Yes, your dark majesty,” Nikita drones obediently as she drops to her knees and bows before her.

Once the Dark Queen is satisfied, she retracts the rope of dark magic and Nikita’s eyes turn back to normal.

“What the hell just happened?” she asks blinking wildly.

“Well, Manny,” she asks the Record Producer.  
“Are you going to bow before me too? Or must I use my reinforcements on you as well?”

Realizing the consequences, Manny begins bowing.

“Cease,” the Dark Queen commands him once she’s satisfied. 

Immediately he stops.

“Good boy,” she chuckles.  
“Luke, reward him.”

Luke takes out a cookie and hold it out in front of Manny. He reaches out for it, when he feels the Dark Queen’s magic wrap around his hands.

“With your mouth, you son of a bitch,” she growls.  
“With your mouth. You are not yet worthy to eat with your hands.”

Sighing, Manny reaches out and grabs the cookie in his mouth. It’s actually not too bad, so he tries to make sure he doesn’t drop any of it.

“What do you want with us?” Nikita asks.

The Dark Queen takes a moment to either consider this or to add suspense or maybe both (it’s both). 

“We must build our magic if we are to release my love from his amber prison.”

“Your love?”

“Nicholas,” her voice becomes slightly gently and she smiles softly as she mentions his name.   
“My love, my life, my light.”

“The Carnival Master?”

“Exactly.”

“So then what are we supposed to do?”

“You are going to become part of the cult.”

“A snowball’s chance in hell are we going to join you,” Nikita scoffs with a laugh.

“A snowball’s chance in Hell are you going to have a choice in the matter.”

All of a sudden, they hear a psychotic laugh. Sally and Hogan emerge, dressed in surgical outfits and carrying demented instruments included a large, rusty, sharp-toothed knife and various bottles of different sizes and contents.

“But first, we need to remove your sanity.”

Nikita manages to connect the dots, and she begins to feel the most afraid she has felt in a very long time.

“No,” she gasps in a low voice as she shakes her head.

They both step towards her, as they laugh psychotically through their surgical masks. 

“Get away from her, you bitches!” Manny shrieks as he lunges at them.

All of a sudden, he feels a rope of dark magic wrap around his mind. The Dark Queen retracts the rope, but the magic stays around his brain.

“Rest now, my loyal servant,” she orders him softly, but firmly.

His eyes become void, black, and blank as the two clowns step towards Nikita.

“No, please,” she begs in a low voice.  
“Please don’t do this to me. Safiya, please!”

Tears begin to form in her eyes and their hands snake around her arms. She begins to struggle against them as they drag her to a door that says “SURGICAL WARD” in big, bloody letters; her voice becomes louder and louder.

“Safiya, please, have mercy!” she screams as tears fall down her face.  
“You can’t do this to me. I’m your friend!”

The Dark Queen smiles maliciously.

"Friend? We have never been friends."

Nikita begins to shoot out screams like a sound-powered machine gun.

“Scream all you want, Nikita,” the Dark Queen hisses slowly.  
“No one will hear you.”

In a last-ditch effort for someone to hear her, Nikita lets out an animalistic, blood-curdling shriek that gradually fades out as Sally and Hogan drag her into the surgery room.


	16. The Teal Hits the Fan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Nikita and Manny gone, a miracle finally occurs, but ends badly.

Frozen in pure shock, the group tries to recompose themselves. 

“So first Ro, then Teala,” Colleen lists off.  
“Then Safiya, and now Manny and Nikita are missing.”

“You mean they were taken?” Joey corrects her.  
“That seems the most likely case.”

“So how are we going to prepare and protect ourselves?” Roi asks.

“I don’t know if we can,” Colleen sighs, shaking her head in hopelessness.  
“They’ve mostly been taken in different ways. Ro and Teala were snatched on the run, Safiya was lured out, and Manny and Nikita were taken in the dark. I think all that we can do is hope that no one else is taken.”

“If we could just have some sort of miracle, that would be great,” Matt groans.

Suddenly they hear squealing coming from the corner.

“Ooh! Juice!” Ro exclaims as she and Teala spy the antidotes on the table. 

Dashing over, they each grab and gulp down a cup. Almost immediately they begin to stumble.

"I feel sleepy," Teala remarks. 

"Me too."

Their eyes begins to flutter and their hands release their cups.

“Night-night,” Ro yawns as she drops along with Teala.

Calliope and Mortimer run over and catch Ro and Teala respectively. 

“They drank the antidotes!” JC exclaims with a smile.

After they’ve been gently placed onto the floor, Calliope gestures for everyone to back up.

“I will need some room,” she says gently.

Waving her hands over them, she begins to mumble and mutter something under her breath. About five or ten minutes later, there’s a flash of light that flows through the two girls’ bodies. Then Calliope backs away.

A few moments pass as the group watches the two intensely. Soon afterwards, Ro’s eyes flutter open.

“Wha….what happened?” she groans.

“Her voice is back to normal!” Colleen gasps.

Then they hear another groan, this one from Teala

“Where are we?” 

“It worked,” Calliope whispers joyfully.

Ro looks over to Teala and envelops her in a hug.

“Teala, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she answers as she returns her hug.  
“And you?”

“I’m alright."

Matt goes over to Ro and grabs her shoulders.

“Do you know who I am?” he asks urgently.

She looks at him, confused.

“You’re Matpat,” she says as if he asked her what’s 1+1.

He gives a laugh of joy and tears form in his eyes.

“You’re back!” he cries as he wraps her in a hug.   
“We got you back!”

“I never left, Matt,” Ro giggles as she hugs him.

“Ro, we missed you!” Colleen exclaims.

“What happened?”

“You got hypnotized by Sally Slaughter,” Calliope explains.

The group rushes over to Ro and they all envelope her in a hug. Seeing this, Teala’s heart drops. Her face looks crestfallen.

 _Maybe they’ll hug me next,_ she thinks.

As soon as they finish hugging Ro, everyone returns over to the couch. 

“Where are Manny and Nikita?” Ro asks.

And that’s when Teala loses it.

“So that’s how it is, huh?” she hisses as she bolts upright, fury rushing through her veins.  
“Ro wakes up and she get showered with praise and concern. But I wake up as well and Ro’s the only person who cares?”

“Teala, we need to focus on finding Nikita and Manny,” Colleen tells her.  
“Stop being so selfish.”

“I’m selfish? I’M SELFISH?” Teala yells as she scoffs in disbelief.  
“I’ve done nothing but give my time and energy to help the group. But do any of you give a shit? No! You just think of me as a throwaway. Nothing that I do will ever be good enough.”

“Teala, you need to calm down,” Joey snaps at her.

“SHUT UP!” she screams.  
“Who was the first to comfort Matt when Ro got taken? Who helped Safiya get away from the clowns by being a decoy, even if she didn’t know it? ME! I did that and what do I get? Nothing! Not even a ‘thanks, Teala’ or a ‘we’re glad to have you as part of the group, Teala.’ Just cold shoulders and isolation!”

Burning tears begin to fall down her face. 

“I hope you bitches burn in hell,” she snarls as she dashes out of the lounge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about time Teala stood up for herself.


	17. Do Not Go Gentle Into The Dark Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teala, heartbroken and hopeless, comes across a familiar face who offers her the tools to help her achieve the great things they know she can achieve.

Teala, hurt and heartbroken, rushes out of the lounge without looking back. She goes back towards the carousel where all of this shit began and sits down on the still platform.

“No one cares” she cries quietly.  
“No one cares about stupid, useless Teala Dunn. A waste of space, that’s what I am.”

A few more minutes pass as she feels her heart peel away. She’s normally not one to care much about what others think of her, but when they’re actively ignoring her, not acknowledging what she’s done to help, and even telling her she’s selfish for standing up for herself, it’s so difficult to build herself back up.

“Teala?” a gentle and familiar voice asks from above her.  
“What’s up?"

Teala looks up and sees a powerful and beautiful woman dressed as an Investigative Reporter. She looks familiar. 

“Safiya?” she asks gently as she tries to wipe her tears away.  
“You don’t think I’m selfish if I try to speak up for myself, do you?”

Safiya looks taken aback.

“Of course not,” she answers.  
“Why would you think that?”

“Well, throughout the night, none of the other have acknowledged anything I’ve done to help them and only Ro cared when I awoke from the trance. I feel so useless. I’m a waste of space.”

Tears begin to stream back down her face as she bows her head. Safiya sits down on the platform next to her and envelopes her in a hug, rubbing her back.

“Dear Teala, there’s no need to cry,” she assures her gently.  
“You are certainly neither useless, nor a waste of space, Teala."

She gently pushes Teala chin up and, using her fingers, gently wipes away the tears as the two of them meet eye to eye.

“But then why do they act like I am?"

“They just don’t understand that help can appear in so many different forms," she answers with a gentle smile.  
"You are a beautiful and kind young woman and I know you’ll do great things. In fact, I can help you achieve those great things.”

She stands up and gently offers Teala her hand.

“All you have to do,” she tells her softly.  
“Is take my hand.”

Hesitantly Teala holds out and grabs onto Safiya’s hand. 

The second she does, she feels a surge of power flow through her. Her veins begin to glow black and her body is enveloped in a black aura as she and Safiya rise above the ground. 

Safiya’s eyes burrow into her brain, shifting it to suit, increasing her intelligence, devotion, giving her magic, and bringing forth her dark side, as well as changing around a few facts about her. Meanwhile her clothing changes into all black. A black dress, similar to Safiya’s, and a matching tiara form and her hair becomes even darker.  Black stilettos form on her feet. Her makeup also becomes darker, but hints at a slight amount of innocence within. 

Her hair darkens several shades and black gloves appear on her hands. In her right hand, a dark wand with a translucent crystal heart at the end of it appears.

She feels a final surge of power and the aura bursts as the two of them gently float back down to the ground, now with both of their hands together and both of them in their black attire. Teala has her head bowed low.

“How do you feel now, my beautiful daughter?” the Dark Queen asks in her powerful, but gentle, voice.

Teala slowly rises her head and smiles.

“I feel simply wonderful, mother,” she replies in a voice almost as deep and powerful as her new mother’s voice.  
“And soon I will be ready to take my place on the throne as Dark Princess Teala, the Princes of the Night and the Lady of the Carnival.”


	18. Quod insania et nupta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Manny begins in the dark and ends in a blissful slumber.  
> (If you have a fear of blood and/or surgeries, proceed with caution).

Darkness.

All Manny can see is void around him as he comes to consciousness. He tries to move but he feels himself in tight restraints. 

All of a sudden, he hears a psychotic, yet slightly familiar laugh.

“What the hell?” he whispers.

All of a sudden, he hears a switch flip on and soon he’s blinded by a light shining in his eyes. Two figures hover above him. And then he hears the laughter again. 

“Who are you?” he demands loudly.

Next thing he knows, the top half of his restraint board, or whatever he’s on, rises up as another light flips on revealing a familiar silhouette. It approaches closer and more lights turn on until he can finally see who it is, though he wishes he hadn’t.

Her wig is still blonde, but it’s now also coated in red, dripping off of it. Her head, though her blonde bangs slightly conceal them, is riddled with surgical staples. Her pupils keep fluctuating rapidly in their size. One second they’re the size of pinpricks and the next, they’re the size of dinner plates, and one of her eyes twitches erratically. She has a grin that nearly stretches off, yes off, of her face and her teeth look razor sharp. On her nose is a blood-red clown nose and her face is covered in white powder, so much so that she looks like a ghost of the past.

In her hands, also red and dripping, is a whip. Her  outfit is still bright pink, but it’s torn up in certain parts, and also dripping red. Her white boots are in the same condition. 

“N-Nikita?” he trembles.

“Silence, you bastard!” she spits.  
“Nikita is no more. It’s Demented Dragun now!”

She gives off another psychotic laugh as her pupils grow and shrink rapidly. Manny swears he can hear a cuckoo clock going off somewhere.

“Wha…..what do you want from me?” he gulps as tears fall down his face.

“Why it’s quite simple, Manny,” she answers innocently.  
“I want you to join us. But in order for me to let you…”

All of a sudden, more lights flip on revealing that he’s in an operating theatre. Sally and Hogan hover above him, cackling along.

“You must give up a part of yourself.”

Manny puts the dots together.

“You’re going to remove my fucking brain?” he exclaims.

“No!” Demented Dragun gasps in mock shock.  
“Not your ENTIRE brain. Just the part that contains your sanity.”

Tears form in his eyes.

“Bitch,” he squeaks hopelessly.  
“I thought we were friends.”

“We are friends, silly!” she assures him as bends down to boop his nose.  
“But we’ll be even better friends once we get rid of that pesky sanity. It always gets in the way.”

All of a sudden, he feels a saw cutting into his head and he begins to scream.

“Make all the noise you want,” Demented Dragun giggles.  
“No one will hear you.”

Blood begins to stream down his face, into his eyes, into his mouth. Soon enough he feels the knife cut through his skull and he feels a breeze literally in his brain. He then feels a fan hitting his brain, activating various parts of it.

“Doesn’t it just blow your mind?” Demented Dragun cackles.

Hogan, the one holding the fan, cackles along with her as Sally takes her hypnotic concoction and pours it into Manny’s brain. She pours a second bottle inside for good measure. Next thing he knows, he feels his skull being put back in place and stapled together. Same with his head. 

"What's the matter, Manny?" Demeted Dragun yells over his screams.  
"This isn't anything to lose your head over."

Sally then begins shaking his head around to get the concoction in all parts of his brain. As it seeps into each part, he feels his mind fogging up and he struggles to hang on to what remains.

_This isn’t right. This isn’t right. This isn’t——_

“You don’t get to decide right and wrong,” Sally whispers in his ear as the concoction opens him to suggestion.   
“We do.”

Manny feels his mind fogging up incredibly. Bliss replaces the pain and he begins to smile. He’s so caught up in it that he doesn’t notice Sally speaking to him, even when she tells him to 

“Sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to this random English to Latin translator I found, the chapter title translates into "Giving in to Insanity."
> 
> I just wanted to make the title sound kinda cool, okay?
> 
> I might try to give the story some happiness eventually.


	19. The Magic of Joy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the way to check if Teala's alright, Ro and Matt stumble on a shocking development.

Meanwhile, the group sits back in the lounge. 

“Well, Teala’s gone now,” Joey sighs.

“She wouldn’t be gone if it weren’t for you telling her to calm down,” Colleen barks at him.

“Me? You’re the one who started this!”

“Don’t you know you’re never supposed to tell a woman to calm down when she’s enraged.”

“Well, if you hadn’t called her selfish, it wouldn’t have escalated!”

“Guys!” Ro cries, tears falling down her face.  
“Please stop it! Stop blaming each other. I don’t like it when my friends are unhappy.”

She covers her face and lets the tears fall. Matt’s rubbing her back for comfort.

“I’m taking Teala’s side on this one,” he sighs.  
“We DID ignore her when she woke up, and that was a major jerk move on our part, including my own.”

“I agree. It was my fault too,” JC sighs heavily.

“But you didn’t even say anything,” Joey exclaims confused.

“Saying nothing’s just as bad as saying something insensitive,” he shrugs. 

“Yeah,” Matt adds.  
“We should’ve listened to her and acknowledged what she did right. After all, she was the first to comfort me when Ro got taken. And that was a huge boost to my morale.”

All of a sudden, Ro stands up.

“I’m gonna go see if she’s okay,” she sighs.

“I’ll go with you,” Matt agrees.

“No!” Calliope exclaims, blocking the way.  
“It is too dangerous.”

“Calliope, I’m sorry, but we’re gonna take that risk,” Ro tells her gently, but firmly.  
“Teala’s just as much a part of the group as any of us, and we should’ve acknowledged that from the get-go. We need to make sure she’s okay.”

Matt nods in agreement, prompting a sigh from Calliope.

“Is there anything I can do or say that will convince you to stay back?”

Both of them shake their heads and Calliope sighs once more before moving out of the way.

“Please be careful,” she tells them.

* * *

Outside the still autumn air has given way to a cool breeze. Matt and Ro try to determine where Teala might have gone.

“The carousel?” Ro asks.

He shrugs casually.

“It’s worth a try.”

On the way, they go through a barren forest. The two of them take a break from their walk and observe it.

“What do you think this was?” Ro wonders.

“Maybe an apple orchard,” Matt guesses.

Ro spots a smaller tree nearby and goes to touch it. Instead she feels leaves and an apple in her hand, which makes her freeze.

“Matt,” she gasps.  
“That tree was dead before, right?”

“Uh-huh,” he agrees, shocked. 

She removes her hand from the tree; the fruit and leaves stay.

“How…..how did that happen?” she stammers.  
“Do you think it was left behind by the hypnosis?”

“With all I’ve seen tonight,” Matt chuckles sadly.  
“It seems that anything is possible at this point.”

Rosanna’s mind begins to work at top speed. She goes over to a barren patch of dirt and touches it. Almost immediately, it grows into grass and brightly-colored flowers sprout up from it. She goes over to a nearby, dilapidated building and touches it. Immediately it begins to rebuild; colorful paint and decorations proceed to cover it. 

“Ro,” Matt gasps.  
“I think you’re right. I think that hypnosis left behind some revitalization magic."

She then goes over to Matt and touches his hands. All of a sudden, endorphins and happy memories begin to flood his mind. Opening nights of musicals he had been in, his first date with Stephanie, their wedding, finding out that they’re going to have a child. All of the good times he had with Ro also come to mind. Even when Ro pulls her hands away, the memories and happiness linger within him. 

“Not just that,” Ro gasps in amazement as she stares at her hands.   
“But I also now have the power to bring others joy.”

Hearing this, Matt gives off a laugh. She looks at him confused.

“What’s so funny?”

“Ro,” Matt tells her, shaking his head.  
“You didn’t JUST get the power to bring others joy. You had that power from day 1.”

Ro feels her cheeks burning up and tears of happiness filling her eyes.

“Matt, that’s so sweet of you to tell me!” she replies as she envelops him in a hug.   
“Thank you!”

“No, thank YOU,” he replies.  
“For simply being you.”

After a few moments, they break from the hug and Ro’s attention is caught by something behind Matt.

“Hey!” she tells him.  
“Isn’t that Teala and Safiya over by the carousel?”

Whirling around, Matt looks towards it. 

“It is!” he exclaims.

“Teala!” Ro yells eagerly running towards the two.  
“Safiya!”

“Hey, guys!” Matt yells as he follows Ro.

As soon as they arrive, Ro envelops Teala in a bear hug. 

“You’re okay!”

Teala begins to feel her own happy memories surface in her mind, making her feel even more powerful.

“Of course,” Teala chirps happily.  
“In fact, thanks to Safiya, I feel better than ever!”

Ro goes over to Safiya and squishes her in a bear hug. Safiya’s mind floods with happiness and happy memories that push her dark side into the back of her mind.

“Ro?” she asks in her normal voice.  
“Where am I?”

Matt’s caught up with them and Teala frowns at him.

“What are YOU doing here?” she hisses at him.

“Teala,” he sighs.  
“You were right. We weren’t acknowledging what you did well and I’m truly sorry. I don’t know if it’s too late to say this, but I really appreciated you comforting me when Ro got taken. It was a huge boost to my morale and helped me in the long run.”

Hearing this, the dark side of Teala is pushed into the back of her mind. 

“Wow,” she gasps, touched.  
“Thanks, Matt. That’s really sweet of you to say.”

“So, are we cool?”

Teala nods.

“Yeah, we’re cool.”

The four of them hug it out for a few moments until Ro speaks up.

“Okay, before we move on, we need to address the biggest elephant in the room,” she tells them.  
“Why are you two dressed like evil royalty?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's be honest; the power to bring others joy? Ro's got that power IRL.
> 
>  
> 
> So some of you were saying the story needs some happiness, so here you go.
> 
> Don't get your hopes up too high for another one of these. It may happen again, but we'll see.


	20. Why You Should Never Piss Off a Sweet Cinnamon ROll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FEELS FEELS FEELS FEELS
> 
> And clowns!

Hearing this, Safiya and Teala look down and see they’re wearing the costumes they wore when they first arrived.

“I swear you were wearing a ton of black clothes and makeup,” Ro exclaims doing a double take.

The other two look at each other in confusion.

“Honestly, we have no clue,” Teala shrugs.  
“Last thing I remember was taking hold of Safiya’s hand over here.”

“Before this, the last thing I remember,” Safiya pipes up.  
“Is taking the hand of a felt doll in the clown tent. And then I found myself walking over to the carousel and that’s when I found Teala crying. She told me she thinks you all think she’s useless and a waste of space.”

Ro’s face looks crestfallen when she hears this, causing her to embrace Teala.

“You are certainly neither of those things,” she assures her. 

“Yeah,” Matt agrees sincerely.  
“You’re more loved and valued than you know and we’re so sorry if we made you feel those things weren’t true.”

“But you can’t speak for the rest of them,” Teala sighs.  
“What about them?”

“How about we go back and you can hear it from them?” Ro suggests.

Teala shakes her head.

“They’re just gonna tell me I’m being selfish and to calm down and then it’s all gonna happen again.”

“It’s not gonna happen again, I’m sure of it. Because something’s changed,” Ro assures her.

“What’s that?” she asks as the four of them walk back to Flint’s Arcade.

Ro takes ahold of her hand.

“You’ll have us by your side this time.”

* * *

The four of them enter into the lounge and the others gasp.

“You found her!” Colleen exclaims relieved.

Hearing this, Teala feels hopeful that the others have finally realized she exists.

“Safiya, you’re safe!” Colleen sighs as she runs over to the group.

All of a sudden, Teala feels a hand to her face, Colleen’s hand specifically, force her back. She stumbles and falls to the floor. 

“Teala!” Ro gasps.

She runs over to her.

“You’re bleeding!”

Teala puts her hand to her nose, and sure enough, Colleen had managed to hit her hard enough to make her nose bleed. Tears begin to form in her eyes and her dark side slowly begins to reemerge.

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Ro assures her.  
“I’ll talk to her.”

Ro stands back up, and standing on her tip toes, taps Colleen on the shoulder.

“Colleen, you know, Teala’s back as well,” she reminds her. 

She and Joey merely glance over behind Ro and shrug.

“So?” Colleen scoffs.

“Maybe you should go see if she’s okay,” Ro suggests sweetly.

“Oh, that’s not my problem. I only talk to people who are actually important to this group.”

“Yeah,” Joey agrees.

That last sentence, that’s all it takes for Ro to lose her cool.

“Colleen Mae Ballinger-Evans! Joseph Michael Graceffa! You listen to me right now!” she screams in fury.

That catches everyone’s attention. Colleen and Joey look especially shook.

“Teala’s been doing her dang best to help this group,” she barks angrily at them.  
"When I got taken, it was she who comforted my brother from another mother. When the others went to get the spring, it was she who was the accidental decoy so that Safiya could escape. And all you two have done since she and I have woken up was give her crap!  
“I know that you are better than this. I know that you two can take responsibility for the things you’ve said and done. I am absolutely ashamed of you both."

Shocked, frozen-solid, and speechless, the force of Rosanna's speech hits Colleen and Joey multiple times. 

“Wow,” Colleen gasps in ashamed realization as tears flow to her eyes.  
“You’re right, Ro. I’ve been nothing but a total bitch to her. I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” Joey sighs, tears forming in his eyes as well.

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” Ro tells them firmly.

They look down to see a bleeding, shocked, tear-stained Teala. Hesitantly they approach her, and it’s Colleen who’s the first to reach out.

“Teala,” she chokes as tears roll down her face and getting down to Teala’s level.  
“I’m truly sorry for how I’ve been acting towards you. I was a total bitch towards you, and I never gave you the credit you deserve. You were the first of any of us to jump to Matt’s side when he needed it most, and that’s incredibly helpful. It was totally wrong of me to shit on you like that, and I’m so sorry that I hurt you."

Colleen looks like she’s about to burst into tears. So do Joey and Teala.

“I’m sorry too. It was completely wrong of me to treat you like garbage,” Joey adds, as his voice chokes occasionally as he gets down to her level as well.  
“You don’t deserve it, and I’m sorry that we made you feel like you were useless because you are NOT useless.”

Teala’s eyes are welling up even more. Out of nowhere, she loses it, as do Joey and Colleen. The three of them envelop each other in a massive bear hug and crying pod.

“I’m so sorry for bursting out like that,” Teala squeaks.

“No, don’t apologize for it,” Colleen interrupts as she rubs her back.  
“You felt like you were being mistreated. You were completely in the right to say something and I was wrong to call you selfish for it.”

Within her mind, the dark side feels all of the love that’s replacing it until it’s nearly completely dormant.

“Can you forgive us?” Colleen asks.

Teala nods.

“I forgive you,” she sniffles. 

The rest of the group decides to join in and for about five to ten minutes, they have a major crying and hugging session. 

“Thank you, Ro,” Colleen sniffles.

“Yeah, thank you so much,” Joey agrees.

Everyone is silent for a few moments, until JC speaks up.

“So now that that’s covered,” he says.  
“What’s the next move?”

“We need to save Manny and Nikita,” Matt reminds them.

“Wait, Manny and Nikita are missing?” Safiya exclaims.

“Long story,” he tells her.  
“But right now, we need to find out where they are.”

All of a sudden, they hear a band of psychotic laughter and in barge the clowns. Leading the pack, staples along their foreheads, are a psychotic Troublemaker and Record Producer; Nikita and Manny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When the sweet and innocent one is mad at you, you know you messed up. BIG TIME.


	21. The Clowns Strike Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The clowns have ambushed the guests. And the ending may not be what you expect.

“Well, well, well,” the clown leader exclaims stepping to the front of the group.  
“Looks like we got ourselves a whole group of troublemakers.”

They hear a gasp coming from the crowd and Sally Slaughter pushes her way to the front.

“Little Orphan Annie!” she squeals.  
“Where’ve you and Lil Miss Curly Top been? Come to mamma!”

Ro and Teala back away in response.

“You ain’t my mamma!” Teala snaps in confusion.

Ro nods in agreement. Sally, in fury, locks eyes with Calliope.

“You!” she roars, pointing at her with her signature bat.  
“You took my innocent little girls away from me!”

“Bullshit!” Calliope barks.  
“They were never yours to begin with!"

“They were better off with me,” Sally growls.  
“I was shielding them from the evils of this world. Evils like you!”

“Yeah!” Demented Dragun spits.

“Nikita? Manny?” Teala asks.  
“What’s gotten into you?”

The two of them cackle like deranged hyenas.

“Nikita and Manny, we are no longer,” Demented Dragun tells her.   
“Now it’s ~~(TEAM ROCKET!)~~ Demented Dragun."

“And Malicious MUA,” he finishes as he brandishes his signature weapon, a pink taser.

“What are you doing here?” Mortimer asks.

“We’re here to take back what’s rightfully ours,” the leader states.

“Nothing in here is yours,” Calliope growls.

“Maybe not, but some people are,” Sally snarls as she lunges at Rosanna.

Matt jumps in front of her.

“Leave her alone!” he hisses.

“Why don’t you jump to us, JC?” Demented Dragun purrs.

“Run to our side, Roi,” Malicious snarls.

“Come on over, Colleen,” Luke growls.

“Make the switch, Matt,” Sally demands.

“Join us, Joey,” the leader insists.

“Never!” Matt barks back. 

All of a sudden, another crack of thunder occurs and the power goes off. Various screams and footsteps are heard. Ro grabs tightly onto Matt and the two of them fight their way to a corner where they huddle and wait it all out. Once the noise dies down, the light stays off.

“You think they’re gone?” Ro whispers.

“No clue,” Matt shrugs.  
“They could be waiting in the shadows for all we know.”

“No, we’re not,” a voice nearby argues.

There’s a thump and an exclamation of “Ouch! What the fuck?"

“Shut your damn mouth, Hogan!” Sally hisses.

“Sorry.”

They hear footsteps shuffling towards them. Ro can feel her heart pounding in her chest.

“Little Orphan Annie,” a singsong voice purrs.  
“Come home to mamma please.”

All of a sudden, Ro feels a cold hand gently rest on her arm and another cold hand stroking her hair; shuddering and shivering in fright, she pulls away. Sensing her fear, Matt helps her sidestep around Sally in the dark. They then hear a sigh and a mass of footsteps retreat. Once it’s quiet, the lights come back on, but Ro and Matt have their eyes closed. 

“Matt, do you think they’re gone now?” Ro asks with a tremble in her voice.

“I hope so. Are you scared to look?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Me too. We’ll do it together on three, okay?”

“Okay.”

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three!”

They open their eyes. There’s no sign of the clowns anywhere in the room. That would be a good thing, except that……there’s no sign of anyone anywhere in the room.

“Matt, you know what this means, right?” Ro gasps.

The two of them look at each other and say it in unison.

“They took everyone else captive.”


	22. The Liberation of Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With most of the guests captured, one among them is selected to be corrupted.

 

“Okay, five or more clowns for every one prisoner,” the clown leader orders as they walk back to the clown tent.   
“No fucking around here.”

“Can’t we go back and get Little Orphan Annie?” Sally whines.

“No, Sally, we’re going to have her come to us.”

Malicious has taken ahold of Calliope, while Sally has Teala. Once inside, they shove them into the tent and surround them.

“Well, well, well,” the clown leader purrs.  
“I wonder who’ll be the first to change.”

She goes around considering.

“Eenie, meenie, minie, MORTICIA!” she exclaims.

Immediately a group of clowns take ahold of Safiya, including Sally.

“I didn’t get to see your transformation into the dark queen. So how about we get a demonstration?”

Sally takes out another bag of salt while Demented and Malicious bind her and shove her to the ground as Sally sprinkles salt around her, Safiya, and Hogan. After placing another doll in the center, she grabs their hands and Hogan grabs Safiya’s other hand and she chants the spell once more.

_We who reside in the circle of salt wish to communicate with the Carnival Master. With your spirit, we implore you to enter into the corpse in the center so that we might speak with you._

It all happens once again and Safiya can feel her heart drop as the eyes, mouth, and teeth form.

“What is it?” the Carnival Master groans.

“The spell on your bride was broken, so we need you to reactivate it.”

The doll turns towards Safiya and holds out his hand.

“Remember what I said, my dear,” he tells her.  
“There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

"Do I have a say in the matter?" she asks.

The doll and clowns shake their heads. Gulping Safiya looks over at the others, defeated.

“I’m sorry, guys,” she sighs before taking his hand.  
"I really am."

The transformation begins again, but it’s much quicker, as it was merely lying dormant in her mind.

“Now bring her to the chapel and quickly,” the Carnival Master orders them.  
“She’s powerful enough where her sole touch can break the amber encasing me.”

“With pleasure, my love,” the Dark Queen complies with a smile.

“Don’t do it, Safiya!” a voice calls from outside of the tent.

The clowns turn around to see that Ro and Matt have come for the others.

“Well, well, well,” the clown leader cackle joyfully.  
“You’re just in time for the show. We’re going to give you a front row seat."

Hearing Ro’s voice, Sally runs out with Teala and Hogan. She grabs Ro and he grabs Matt as the Dark Queen exits the tent. Her eyes fall on Teala and Ro and the two of them tremble as she glides to them. She first makes eye contact with Ro whose knees are trembling. 

To Ro’s surprise, she gently cups her face in one hand and strokes her hair with the other.

“Be not afeared, my dear,” she says in her powerful, but gentle, voice as she gives a small smile.   
“You are one of the few who shall never come to harm from me.”

Teala is also trembling. The Dark Queen turns to Teala and does the same.

“You both are safe with me,” she assures them.  
“For your souls are clean and your hearts are pure.”

For a moment, Ro feels safe with this Dark Queen. She’s gentle with her and shows her compassion. Perhaps this isn’t too bad of a life, or afterlife, to live.

“Ro, get away from her!” Matt tells her.

The Dark Queen hisses and prepares to fire a ball of dark magic at him.

“Wait! Stop!” Ro exclaims.  
“Please keep Matt safe as well. He’s my friend.”

The Dark Queen turns and looks into the doe’s innocent eyes. She sighs, for even she cannot resist them.

“Very well,” she promises gently.  
“I shall keep him safe as well.”

Ro breathes a sigh of relief. 

“Now we must get to the chapel. He is waiting.”

* * *

Butterflies flutter within Ro’s stomach as she, Teala, and Matt are escorted to the chapel. Passing through an arch that looks look a devil’s head (which feels rather fitting), they arrive at a white chapel. Stepping inside, leaves and dirt litter the floor, but in front of them, glowing, is a large, amber gem. 

“This is where he’s being held,” the dark queen gasps in a low voice as she steps towards it.

Ro’s tempted to reach out and stop her, but the clowns are holding them back tightly.

Slowly, but surely, the Dark Queen reaches out and glides a finger down the amber and then takes a few steps back. All of a sudden, there’s a cracking sound and then another. After some time, the amber bursts and out steps a tall man with horns.

“He is free,” the Dark Queen gasps.  
“The Carnival Master is free.”


	23. Fall Back.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Carnival Master's been released and the trio must make a break for safety. But things take a turn when one of them decides to do the unthinkable.

The trio are beyond shook as the Carnival Master steps out of the broken amber. He’s tall and foreboding. 

“Please,” he purrs to his Dark Queen.  
“Call me Nicholas.”

The Dark Queen holds out a hand and Nicholas leans down, planting his lips upon it. 

“You look elegant,” he tells her.

“Oh, you flatter me,” she chuckles seductively, fluttering her eyes. 

Teala, Ro, and Matt are frozen in defeat. The Carnival Master has been released. They didn’t even have a chance to cleanse a single artifact. Everlock is going to burn and they’re all going to die. 

“Well, who is this little cutie?” Nicholas asks eyeing Ro and reaching out to pet her head.

Her eyes widen and Matt grabs onto her, pushing her behind him.

“Leave her alone,” he growls.

Nicholas is taken aback by this defiance, and he glares at Matt angrily.

“You really think you can tell me what to do?” he asks. 

“Ro’s my friend and I’m not gonna let you hurt her.”

Nicholas purses his lips and huffs, giving off a growl.

“You actually think I’m gonna hurt her? You judge too quickly. I look monstrous to you, so you assume that I want to hurt everyone. That’s what happens to everyone who’s different. Society takes one look at them, and they label them as either monsters or inferiors; they don’t even get to know the full extent of their personalities. Some even try to make them like the majority of society and when they can't conform, they get shunned. I expected better from someone who loves the theatre."

Matt is taken aback.

"How did you---?"

"Come closer, little one," he tells Rosanna.  
"I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

Ro peeks out from behind Matt.

"Please," he implores her.  
"Forty years trapped in amber can make a soul cynical and suspicious of other. But you're the opposite. Your heart is soft and your soul is pure and trusting."

"You're not gonna corrupt her, are you?" Sally squeaks.

He turns towards the squealing clown.

"Is she---?"

Sally nods eagerly.

"My daughter, Little Orphan Annie. And this," she says gesturing to Teala.

"is her sister, Lil Miss Curly Top."

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Teala growls at Sally.  
"I am NOT your daughter, and neither is Ro!"

She rushes over to push her, but ends up firing a ball of dark magic at her, sending her flying across the chapel. Teala covers her mouth in shock.

"How---?"

Taking advantage of the clowns' shocked states, Ro and Matt grab Teala and rush out of the chapel.

"Come back here!" the Dark Queen orders them.

She fires a ball of dark magic at them, but it misses. The trio rushes out of the devil's mouth and back into the carnival. 

"What do we do now?" Teala pants.

"We gotta save the others before Sally can hypnotize them all," Matt responds rapidly.

"But the clowns have every inch of the tent exterior covered," Ro reminds them.

Sure enough, the clowns are still surrounding the tent, and bursting through them with whirring chainsaws, are Demented and Malicious.

"Where do you cuties think you're going?" Demented cackles as she revs up her pink chainsaw.

"The fun's just begun," Malicious hisses as he revs up his green chainsaw. 

The trio diverts to the left and heads back in to the arcade with the duo on their heels. Immediately Matt begins barricading the doors by tipping over and pushing some of the machines up against them. Then he pulls Teala and Ro back into the lounge and pushes the yellow couch up against the entrance.  

 

"What now?" Ro pants.  
"Our friends are still trapped in the clown tent, Safiya's become a dark queen, and the Carnival Master's been released. Anything I'm forgetting?"

"Yeah," Teala squeaks.  
"One, Manny and Nikita have gone bat-shit insane. Two, how the hell did I knock Crazy Sally back? Where did that black orb come from?"

"It seems that Sally's hypnosis gave us some magic," Ro explains.  
"But the question is; why is your magic different than mine? We were both hypnotized to be super adorable and innocent, and yet your magic seems darker."

"I don't know."

All of a sudden, they hear a bang against the door to the arcade that makes them jump. 

"Come on out, cuties!" Demented squeals.  
"We just wanna play."

"Great," Matt sighs, throwing his hands up.  
"Now we're trapped. We're gonna burn in here."

Something in Ro's mind begins to click. She begins to connect all of the dots together. This whole thing started because she was selected to go free from the carousel. None of this would've happened if she'd complied, if she told Matt and the others to leave her behind, if she hadn't ran when she was released. It all makes sense to her now, she knows what she has to do.

Taking a deep breath, she stands up.

"Matt, I need you to unblock the doors," she tells him.

He looks up at her confused.

"What? Why?"

She takes another deep breath, before telling the trio somberly,

"I'm going to give myself up to them."

 

 


	24. It's Better This Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (To the Tune of Step in Time/Sprinkler Time)
> 
> Heartbreak Time!  
> Heartbreak Time!  
> Heartbreak Time!  
> Heartbreak Time!  
> Adding in feels to make you piiiiiiiiiiine,  
> Heartbreak Time!

For a few moments, Matt is dumbfounded. Did she really just say what he thought he heard her say? No, it can't be. He must've misheard her, or she must be playing a joke on him.

"Ro," Matt chuckles sadly.  
"Now's not the time to be playing jokes on us. Cut it out."

He chuckles a bit more, but his eyes lock with Ro's and she doesn't break her face for even a second. His smile slowly melts away.

"Ro, you....you're not serious, are you?" he asks quietly.

"Please tell us you're joking," Teala begs.

Closing her eyes, she gives a sigh and stands up from the couch.

"Everything that's happened tonight; Teala getting caught, Safiya being possessed, Nikita and Manny going insane, everyone else getting captured, the Carnival Master being released. It's all because of me."

"No," he blurts out firmly but quietly.  
"No, Ro. It's NOT because of you. None of this is because of you."

"Stop it," she squeaks as tears form in her eyes.  
"Everlock is going to burn, because I ran off from the carousel when I was freed. If I had just gone with them, you'd all be free by now."

"We would've still tried to save you, Ro," he sniffles as tears begin to build in his eyes.  
"We wouldn't have stopped trying until we got you back. None of this could've been prevented; even if you hadn't run from the carousel, we would still be in the same situation."

Teala nods in agreement.

"But what if it would've set you all free? What if it could've saved the town? If I give myself up, they might let you all go."

"I don't care. I'm not leaving Everlock without you!"

"Matt---"

"I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU AGAIN! I DON'T WANT YOU TO FORGET ME!"

Tears stream down Matt's face. He feels a lump form in his throat. Impulsively he grabs Ro, pulls her into a tight hug, and then flop onto the couch.

"I don't want you to go," he chokes.  
"You're the best friend I've ever had, and there aren't enough people as kind as you."

"Then you pass on my legacy," she tells him.  
"Be that light and joy, Matt."

All of a sudden, he gets an idea. 

"If you're so insistent on giving yourself up," he sniffles.  
"I'm giving myself up with you."

"Matt, no!" Teala and Ro exclaim.

"I'm not letting you face this alone."

"I don't want you to be stuck here."

"Then don't go. Please."

Ro bows her head low.

"Is there anything I can say that will make you change your mind?"

"A snowball's chance in Hell anything will."

Realizing the full extent of his persistence, Ro sighs.

"Fine. I'll stay."

"Thank you," Matt cries in relief. 

He takes ahold of Ro and the two cuddle for a while. The more he cuddles her, the happier and sleepier he gets. He feels like he should be concerned, but it's been a long night and he's exhausted. Before he knows it, he's out like a light.

* * *

About thirty minutes later, he awakens to find that the commotion outside has died down. Sitting up, he finds himself on the ground with a pillow, a blanket, and a stuffed blue/purple dog. 

"Wow," he sighs as he stands.  
"I feel much more refreshed. Okay, what's our next course of action?"

There's no answer. 

"Guys?" 

He hears a gentle snore over by the bar. Looking behind it, he finds Teala with a set of blankets and pillows as well. Going behind it, he shakes her awake.

"Teala?"

She groans and tosses around.

"Teala, how did you end up here?" 

She takes in the situation and looks bewildered.

"I don't know."

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Wracking her brain, she soon finds the memory.

"Ro and I were cuddling on the yellow couch and then I passed out."

"Ro," Matt gasps before dashing around the room to find her.  
"Ro, wake up!"

He goes over to the door and, to his horror, the couch has been moved to let someone pass. On top of the couch, he finds a note; it looks to have dried tear stains. Grabbing it, his hands trembling, he reads it aloud.

_My Dear Friends,_

_I'm so sorry I had to lie to you, but it was for your protection. I used my magic to put you both to sleep until I had left. By the time you read this, I shall have given myself up to the clowns. I spoke with them and they have agreed to let you go free. However, I didn't want to leave without a parting word to you both._

_Teala, please always remember; you are loved and valued more than you know. You are not useless. You are beautiful and kind and the world needs you. Never let anyone dull your shine._

_Matt, as I told you earlier, please continue to spread light and joy to others, just as you say I do. I want you to be the one to tell Molly. I know she'll understand. I also pass ownership of Blueberry to you. I know you'll treat him well. And please remember; you will always be my brother from another mother._

_Please do not come after me. It's better this way._

_Adieu,_

_Rosanna Pansino_

 


	25. Where Love and Darkness Meet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ro, having said goodbye to Matt and Teala, sets out to give herself to the clowns.

It's heartbreaking. 

Writing a farewell to two people you care so much about it, one of whom is your brother from another mother.

But Rosanna has already spoken with the clowns; they will let her friends go free in exchange for her. 

She has told them not to come after her. Hopefully Matt will listen.

As she signs the note, a tear drops at the very end, giving the impression of a period. Periods, the punctuation symbol of finality. They signify that the sentence is over. And the very symbol that signifies the inevitable; Ro's life is over.

Not wanting to leave them without one last tangible act of kindness, she places Matt and Teala on the floor before gathering blankets and pillows for them. She silently slips the blankets over them and the pillows under their heads. But there's still one last thing that needs to be covered.

Blueberry still lies on the couch. Gently picking him up, tears forming in her eyes, she gives him one final hug.

"Take good care of Matt, please," she whispers to him before giving him a kiss on the head. 

Kneeling down she tucks him under Matt's arm. Taking a final look at him, she shakes her head.

"I'm so sorry," she cries quietly before giving him a gentle kiss on his head and doing the same to Teala.

She silently moves the couch out of the way enough for her to walk through. Placing the note on top of the couch, she takes one last look at the Divine Lounge and a lump forms in her throat. Does she want to do this? Of course not. But it's the only way her friends will be safe.

"Goodbye," she whispers before turning around and stepping through the doors, never to return.

 

* * *

Stepping out into the night, Ro finds that the sky has become even darker than when she last was outside. She tries to hold her head up high; she knows she's been defeated, but she also know that her defeat is for a greater purpose. Her friends will be safe. They'll be able to continue their lives back in 2018. As for her? She'll be lost in flames and then awaken in the afterlife. The hypnosis will become permanent once she is dead. She'll be lost in a flurry of bliss and innocence. Time won't matter to her. Nothing will.

Passing the clown tent, she takes a final glance at it. She knows that her other friends are inside, and she wishes she could say goodbye to them too, but they might try to stop her from going. And there are more of them, so they might win over her. From out of the corner of her eye, she swears she spies a few figures running from the tent, some into a building and others in other directions. She figures it's probably some clowns helping to burn down the town.

With a sigh, she turns and walks forward. There's no going back now.

* * *

Arriving at the chapel, the door opens ominously. With a deep breath, the Jetsetter enters into her final resting place. Inside are Nicholas, the Dark Queen, the clown leader, Sally, and Hogan.

"I'm so jazzed. You decided to show up!" the leader announces cheerfully.

Tears roll down Ro's face, as she bows her head in defeat, crying quietly. Noticing this, the Dark Queen approaches her and delicately places her hand under Ro's chin. Once their eyes meet, she cups the left side of Ro's face and smiles gently.

"Dry your eyes, my child," she tells her kindly, almost motherly, as she reaches out with the other hand and wipes Ro's tears away.  
"I promise you that you shall have nothing to fear once this is all over. I will help to care for you and protect you in the afterlife."

Once she brushes Ro's tears away, she takes her hand and gracefully places it on the back of Ro's head, gently petting her and bringing her in closer for a hug.

"I know I seem intimidating," she admits.  
"But I truly do care for you and I love you very much, Rosanna."

"I love you too, Safiya," Ro sniffles, as she returns her hug.

The magic she possesses flows through the Dark Queen, and it reaches her mind. It surrounds the dark side of the Dark Queen and it shrinks until it is completely gone. 

"What? Where am I?" a familiar voice questions.

Breaking apart, Ro gasps to find that, in place of the Dark Queen, is an Investigative Reporter.

"Safiya!" Ro cries with joy.  
"You're back!"

She brings her into another hug. 

"Ro? What happened?"

"You became the Dark Queen again."

"And you released me," another voice laughs.

The two turn to find Nicholas glaring at them with a mixture of contempt and seduction. He holds out his hand to Safiya, but she backs away with Ro. 

"I thought I told you there's nothing to be afraid of."

"You made me turn Nikita insane!" Safiya retorts.   
"Of course I have a lot to be afraid of."

"Well, that may not have worked out," Sally cackles.  
"But I can still have my daughter back."

Whirling around, the two find that, instead of a spoon, Sally has a rather large syringe, filled to the brim with the concoction. She advances onto the two, but Safiya steps in front of her.

"Stay away!" she hisses.  
"I'm not gonna let you hurt Ro."

But it's almost too late. Hogan grabs Ro from behind and passes her to Sally before grabbing Safiya and holding her back.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Sally clarifies psychotically.  
"I'm just going to make her innocent, cute, and sweet beyond logic."

Pushing up Ro's right sleeve, Sally points the needle at her upper arm. Slowly she brings it towards her. Ro closes her eyes and embraces for the final blow.

"Get away from her!" a voice shouts as the door to the chapel flies open.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I write something with Dark!Saf and Ro?


	26. I Will Follow You Into Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final hour nearing, the guests must duel with the clowns and Carnival Master before their fates are sealed.

As soon as the doors fly open, Sally jumps in shock, causing the syringe to fly from her hands and to the ground, smashing into smithereens.

"No!" she howls.  
"My serum. My serum of innocence!"

"Get away from her!" the voice repeats. 

In steps Matt, holding Blueberry and Blanche, accompanied by Teala, Calliope, Joey, and the others. 

"What the hell is going on?" Safiya exclaims as two figures emerge to the front.

"Demented? Malicious?" the clown leader stammers as they step forward.

"Demented Dragun and Malicious MUA are no more, bitch! Now it's ~~(TEAM ROCKET!)~~ Nikita Dragun!"

"And Manny MUA!"

"T-that's impossible!" Hogan stutters.  
"That serum is incredibly potent."

"Not with my help it isn't," another voice announces.

Stepping forward is Calliope with a gun in her hands. She glares at Nicholas who returns the stare.

"Are you really going to try that on me, little lady?" Nicholas huffs.  
"You know that not a single artifact has been cleansed."

"No," a third voice admits.  
"But they have been burnt."

Coming to the front, Mortimer holds a box of matches.

"B-but that's impossible," the clown leader laughs nervously.  
"If....if it had been burnt, then us clowns would've---"

She doesn't get to finish, for she, Sally, and Hogan all disappear into clouds of smoke, leaving behind a chorus of psychotic laughter. Next they hear a hiss. Then a grunt, a growl, two giggles, four different sounds of emotion, a trio of yelling, and finally a girl yelling nonsense. They all fade into the air one by one.

"Nighty-night, bitches," Nikita says softly as the last sound disappears. 

What starts off quietly soon erupts into a loud roar from Nicholas. 

"I can smell the stench of the Society all over you," he hisses at the group.  
"I had this all planned out. I could've had a beautiful wife. I could've had an innocent little girl. But you all ripped that away from me."

Snapping his fingers, the doors behind them close. Teala runs over and yanks at the handle, but it's no use.

"We're locked in," she gasps.

Immediately Calliope begins to shoot at Nicholas. As he dodges the bullets, he glares at the box of matches.

"And now it's time for this whole night to go up in flames," he growls.

Teala keeps yanking at the door handles in a desperate attempt to escape. As soon as he says that, she turns around and sees Mortimer's matchbox fly into his hands. 

 _This is it. You're going to burn. You'll never get a chance to prove to anyone you're not useless._ _Perhaps you truly are._

The thoughts begin to overwhelm her and try to poke at her, but it fills her with determination. Pushing her way to the front she stands her ground as Nicholas lights a handful of matches.

"Like hell it is!" she snarls. 

Holding out her hand, she concentrates very hard on the matches. The thoughts still poke at her, trying to get her to give up, but it only keeps her going. Eventually the matches rise from his hands, but soon after she can feel him fighting back.

"We'll see about that," he growls.

The two of them battle with their magic. Hearts pound in the guests' chests as they watch it unfold. Unfortunately, Teala realizes how untrained she is as she begins to feel defeated and weakened. Her legs are about to give out, as well as her mind and heart. 

Sinking to the floor, she lets go. The matches float in his hands as he sniffs triumphantly. 

"I knew it," he gloats.  
"The cute ones are always the weakest."

He prepares to fling a match at the group, focusing on the defeated Teala who's looking up at him, panting and begin with her eyes for his mercy. But in his is no mercy, only vengeance. He feels powers vibrate within him as the flames on the matches grow.

Until he hears a high-pitched battle cry and finds himself on the floor. The matches drop onto some dry leaves as he looks up as his assailant. The Jetsetter.

"You were saying, jerkhead?" she giggles.

She glares at him triumphantly. He looks over to his right and notices that the fire is spreading towards him. In a last-ditch effort to take a life, he kicks at Rosanna who immediately kicks back. But it only takes a few more kicks to send her to the ground.

He grabs ahold of her, preparing to take her with him to the flames. Calliope rushes forward and sends two bullets into his hands, causing him to lose his grip. Immediately Matt and Safiya grab ahold of Rosanna and pull her back. The flames spread to his arm, but he doesn't panic. Instead he smiles.

"Don't think you'll escape this alive," he laughs as the flames engulf him, reducing him to ash, save for the blue stone in his chest. Without warning, Joey runs forward and grabs the blue stone, but finds himself caught in the fire. Soon the fire spread towards the walls and across the floor, surrounding the rest of the group. 

"What are we going to do?" Colleen screams.  
"I don't want to burn to death."

"I don't think we have a choice," Teala sighs.  
"The flames are too close and the door's blocked as well."

Fire creeps up onto the ceiling. Ash crumbles around them and occasionally, a piece of wood falls into the firestorm. Matt and Safiya grab ahold of Rosanna as the flames begin to reach their feet.

"So this is how it ends," JC sighs.  
"We're all going up in smoke."

"Not all stories are happy," Calliope adds sadly as she stands beside Matt, Ro, and Safiya, her scarf catches on fire  
"But some sad stories end happily."

"Yeah," Roi agrees.  
"Maybe there's life after death."

"And we have each other," Ro says sweetly.

As if it's a last resort, all twelve of them embrace one another as the flames destroy them.

JC is the first to dissolve to ash.

"See you on the other side."

Roi's the next to go.

"Let's find something crazy to try."

Colleen, trying to clear her tears, sighs as the inferno burns her.

"Mama, I'm ready."

Manny's flames burn him in style.

"Can't wait to be the most fabulous bitch in the afterlife."

Nikita lets herself be sent to the other side.

"A dragun dies with dignity."

Mortimer closes his eyes as he feels his body decaying.

"I'll see you soon, mom."

Calliope feels at peace as she loses consciousness.

"Bless you, children."

Joey, clasping the blue stone to his chest, falls into his flames.

"Time to make things right."

All that are left are Safiya, Matt, Teala, and Ro.

"I think fate wants us to die together," Safiya figures with a gentle smile.

"You three are the best friends I've ever had," Matt admits warmly.

"I love you all," Ro giggles as she embraces them tightly.

"I love you all as well," Teala adds.  
"Thank you for standing up for me."

The flames burn closer and closer.

"You all ready?" Matt asks.

All four of them nod.

"After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure," Safiya quotes.

Soon all four, still embracing one another, lose consciousness. And before long, all that's left are four piles of ash where a Jetsetter, a Detective, a Super Spy, and an Investigative Reporter once stood.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not over, yet.....


	27. I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Burnt to a crisp, the guests awaken into a new life, and meet some familiar faces.

It almost feels like she's floating. Gently down onto a cloud. The back of her feels a warmth, almost like a mother's hug.

Rosanna opens her eyes.

_Where am I?_

She looks at her body. No burn marks, no wounds, no sign of damage whatsoever. Sitting up, she finds herself in a heavenly, aether-esque place. 

"Hey! You're awake!" a familiar voice exclaims.

Whirling around, Ro spies a blonde woman in a 1920s gambler's outfit. Memories flood back to her. Pineapple treats, Valentine's Day candy, testing dog products. It's definitely her.

"Justine?" she gasps.  
"Wha...what are you doing here?"

"Well, I heard you and a few others were arriving, and I wanted to be the first to greet you. I missed you so much!"

Ro, nearly crying in joy, bounces out of bed and nearly crushes Justine in a hug.

"I missed you so much as well! What happened to you?"

"Buried alive. Let me guess. Sacrificed by witches?"

Ro looks at her in confusion.

"No? I was burnt alive."

Justine returns her looks.

"Wait, what? The records said you were supposed to be stabbed with ritual knives by a trio of witches."

"Well, someone must be interfering with it. Changing it."

Shrugging, Justine opens a door nearby.

"C'mon. Everyone's waiting by the pool!"

* * *

The two, once changed into swimsuits, make their way to the pool where a little over two dozen others are waiting for them.

"Oh hey, Ro!" Colleen calls out.  
"Check this out! They have Miranda's Haters Back Off Cookies and FrozeToe Popsicles!"

Ro runs over to the Disco Dancer who's talking with a girl in a big, golden dress and another in a green dress and headpiece.

"And get this," Colleen continues.  
"I was just talking with Gabbie here. She claims I was supposed to be sacrificed to something called the Maiden of Madness."

"Wait," Gabbie interrupts.  
"You DIDN'T die by the maiden?"

Colleen looks at her in confusion.

"No? I was burnt alive."

"The same thing happened to me as well," Ro explains.  
"Justine claims I was supposed to be stabbed with ritual knives by witches."

"You....you were," the girl in the golden dress, Lauren, stammers.

"Okay, hold on!" Gabbie yells.  
"What the hell is going on? Did ALL of you from the 70s get burnt alive?"

They all look at each other and nod.

"Why? Is there a problem?" Safiya asks.

"Actually, yeah," Sierra pipes up.  
"It kinda is. You were supposed to get gutted by a fishhook."

"Someone get the record book," Alex yells.

Immediately Liza Koshy returns with a brown binder and flips to a page.

"Okay, JC Caylen," she says.  
"Were you stabbed to death by a killer clown?"

"Not that I know of."

"Guava Juice, were you bitten by a snake woman?"

"Nope."

"Teala Dunn, were you strangled to death?"

"Not at all."

"Matthew Patrick, did you get bludgeoned to death and then get resurrected?"

"No, I did not."

"Collen Ballinger-Evans, did you die by the Maiden of Madness?"

"I have no clue what that is, so I'm gonna say no."

"Safiya Nygaard, you were NOT gutted by a fishhook?"

"I think I would know if I was."

"Rosanna Pansino, you didn't get stabbed with ritual knives by a trio of witches."

"Mmm-mmm."

"Manny Gutierrez, were you shot by your best friend?"

"Uh, Nikita would never."

"Speaking of," Nikita pipes up.  
"What about me?"

Liza scans through the book. 

"You weren't supposed to die."

"You're shitting me," Nikita gasps.  
"How is this possible? Is someone rewriting our lives and deaths?"

Rosanna, in an attempt to contact someone, looks up into the sky and yells.

"Hello? Is someone there? Are you rewriting our lives?"

* * *

Meanwhile a twenty year old college student lies on her bed in her apartment bedroom when she hears the call of a cute little muffin.

"Hello? Is someone there? Are you rewriting our lives?"

The girl blinks in confusion and squints at her laptop.

"What the fuck?" she whispers. 

Blinking a bit, she shakes her head.

"Must be from the little amount of sleep I got the night before."

She continues to type when she hears it again.

"Hello? Is anyone out there?"

Blinking rapidly, she tries to ignore it and continue to type, but that's when she hears it a third time.

"I hear someone typing on a keyboard. Hello?"

Now she's getting creeped out. Considering throwing her laptop across the room or maybe getting a priest to perform an exorcism on it, she then decides to try to respond.

"H...hello?" she asks timidly.

"Oh!" the voice gasps.  
"Someone is there! Um, hi. My name is Rosanna Pansino, but you can call me Ro. Did you write something with me in it?"

She checks her page on archiveofourown and finds that indeed, she does have several stories about her, but the most recent one is called "Little Orphan Annie."

"Uh-huh," she replies.

"Did I get burnt alive in it?"

"Yeah?"

"See, apparently, I was supposed to get stabbed with ritual knives by a trio of witches."

It hits the girl now.

"Oh!" she exclaims.  
"Yeah, no, in the canon you do. But I wanted to do a rewrite of the story."

"Why?"

"Because I was wondering what would have happened if Luke had rolled a twelve on the Dice of Death. I wrote a fanfic around that and then I decided to expand on it and focus on if each one of you was set free. Since you're my favorite, I decided to write yours first."

"Wait," a new voice pipes up.  
"He WASN'T supposed to roll a twelve?"

"No, he was supposed to roll an eight."

"Well, who was number eight?"

"Nikita Dragun."

"That's me!"

The second voice, Nikita, scoffs.

"Of course they were gonna kill the pretty one."

"So then why did we all burn alive?" a third voice asks.

"Oh, cuz I wanted you all to die together in a bittersweet way."

"That's a bit sadistic, isn't it?"

"Is it better than getting bludgeoned to death by a Strongman?"

"Well, apparently, I was supposed to be revived, so no it wasn't."

"Wait," a fourth voice wonders.  
"So if this is Ro's path, whose path are you doing next?"

"I might come back to this one, people seem to love your Dark Queen side and Ro, but I was thinking of going in order of those mentioned in _Lucky Number 12_."

"So then whose path's the next one?"

"Umm, I believe the next one is Pretty Boy. And I think that nickname belongs to Manny MUA."

"Bitch, I am terrified of what's gonna happen. I saw the way that clown was looking at me. Can you please do someone else?"

Huffing, the girl obliges.

"Let me put all of your remaining names into a wheel online. We'll let that decide whose path I'm writing next."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's the wheel gonna land on?
> 
> (Don't worry; this branch isn't finished. I'll come back to it. Maybe make more what-ifs surrounding it).


	28. Eyes on the Prize

_"Let me put all of your remaining names into a wheel online. We'll let that decide whose path I'm writing next."_

From somewhere in the Beyond, a presence watches the student with yearning eyes. He's seen her craft the stories as one would sew a fine needle point picture. She has power and potential, and he can sense it. With the right kind of power, she could be useful to him.

_Oh, she'll do well._

_She'll do very well._

But it's not until just over a month later that he decides to take control of her mind. Falling under his will even if only for a brief moment, her innocent mind so open to suggestion almost as innocent as the Jetsetter, she immortalizes him within her writing. 

Aha. Yes. Now he can travel through this story. He can study how she's written the characters, uncover their strengths and weaknesses, their loves and fears. And most of all, he is now a thought in her mind. Whenever he wishes, he can force her to write about him, giving him access to the story she's crafting. 

Her mind is explosive with thousands upon thousands upon thousands upon thousands of ideas, ones that she sometimes finds difficult to transfigure into words upon a document. 

He does not care for her face. Perhaps it is sweet and innocent-looking, but it is her mind that he adores so. He gently caresses her mind, and she feels a shiver rush throughout her body, in spite of her being in a trance.

And the comments she receives; oh yes, he notes just how intriguing her stories can be to some. He finds the regulars on this story; a glorious galaxy, a Bird of Scarlet, an Asylum Wolf, a dog named Blueberry, a Willow cat, someone suffering from something called post etn stress; sometimes one asks if she can feel the magic tonight, another asks if she can feel anything. He also finds a Lucy and wonders if Nicholas may be missing his daughter. 

It is the magic tonight that intrigues him the most. Perhaps this Magic may be a good candidate for him to visit as well. He visits the page; Magic seems to be a fan of him, as they've chronicled all of the hell he has put Joey and his friends through via something called a novelization, three of them to be precise. 

He keeps the thought of visiting Magic stored in the back of his conscious and heads back to Mystic's page. Now that he is immortalized within her work as well as becoming a thought in her mind, he doesn't need to worry about being lost from existence. 

_Soon I shall spread to others._

How he can't wait for her to rule at his side.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, guys.
> 
> I think I lost consciousness for a bit, but I'm awake now. I, uh, I don't remember writing anything, but this sounded kinda cool, so I decided to post it. I don't know why it's under "Little Orphan Annie," though. I know I said I was gonna come back to it, but I didn't think it would be in such a poetic way. 
> 
> So, any idea what happened to me?


End file.
